The Take: As Israel strikes Gaza’s Rafah, what can US diplomacy achieve?

Antony Blinken arrived in the Middle East to seal a truce deal, but he leaves with Israel promising ‘total victory’.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited the Middle East this week for the fifth time since October 7. There were hopes he could seal a truce for Gaza. But by the end of his trip, Israel had stepped up attacks on Palestinians in southern Gaza, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised no end to the war without “victory”. So what progress has the US made?

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This episode was produced by Sari el-Khalili and Miranda Lin with our host, Malika Bilal. Khaled Soltan and Sonia Bhagat fact-checked this episode.