Blinken in Cairo in a bid to secure a ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty in Cairo on Wednesday.

It was Blinken’s 10th trip to the Middle East since the war in Gaza began nearly a year ago.

The talks in Egypt were expected to partly focus on refining a proposal to present to Israel and Hamas for a cease-fire deal and release of hostages.

Unlike in recent mediating missions, America’s top diplomat this time was traveling without optimistic projections from the Biden administration of an expected breakthrough in the troubled negotiations.

Also unlike the earlier missions, Blinken has no public plans to go to Israel to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on this trip.

The Israeli leader’s fiery public statements — like his declaration that Israel would accept only “total victory” when Blinken was in the region in June — and some other unbudgeable demands have complicated earlier diplomacy.