Blinken to return to Mideast to try once again to help broker hostage deal, cease-fire

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is making another emergency visit to the Mideast to try to salvage some kind of hostage and cease-fire deal.

Blinken is set to fly out Sunday for his fifth visit to the war-wracked region since Oct. 7, when the Palestinian terror group Hamas launched a sneak attack on Israel, killing more than 1,200 people and taking several hundred more hostage, leading the Jewish state to declare war on it in Gaza.

The US’s top diplomat will “continue diplomatic efforts to reach an agreement that secures the release of all remaining hostages,” according to a press release.

Blinken also will be working to secure a “humanitarian pause” in Israel’s war on Gaza to increase aid to Palestinian civilians — and to eventually nail an overall peace agreement, the statement said.

“He will continue to work to prevent the spread of the conflict, while reaffirming that the United States will take appropriate steps to defend its personnel and the right to freedom of navigation in the Red Sea,” spokesman Matthew Miller added.

Although there is talk about a potential hostage deal in the works, Hamas said it will not release the remaining 100-plus hostages until Israel agrees to a permanent cease-fire, which Israeli leaders have refused to do until the terror group is completely wiped out.

Hamas Political Bureau leader Ismail Haniyeh said the latest proposal on the table is from Israel, Egypt, Qatar and the US and that it proposed a pause in fighting in exchange for all of the captives.

The proposal is believed to call for a day-long pause in fighting per hostage, according to The Times of Israel.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad on Friday discussed a potential cease-fire deal but one in which they demanded a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops, according to CNN.

Barbara Leaf, a US official for the Middle East, said she is not aware of any official “definitive response” from the Palestinian terror group, the outlet said.

US ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the UN Security Council that negotiators are working on getting more aid into the Gaza Strip but don’t know when that relief could reasonably get in, according to CNN.

“We’re giving it that effort on the ground,” Thomas-Greenfield said. “I can’t give you a time frame on negotiations. Negotiations take time.”

Earlier this week, Blinken ordered a review of the US recognizing Palestine as a state at the conclusion of the war.

Blinken has reportedly also asked for a review for a possible demilitarized Palestinian state.