U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed frustration Wednesday at surprise escalations that he said threaten to derail efforts to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. He said the U.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken visits the Middle East in his latest attempt to secure a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas with the support of Egypt and Qatar, though no breakthroughs are expected.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed frustration Wednesday at surprise escalations that threaten to “derail” efforts to broker a cease-fire deal in Gaza, noting that the United States is still assessing a deadly attack that caused pagers used by Hezbollah to explode in Lebanon.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on "all parties" to avoid escalating the regional conflict caused by the war between Hamas and Israel. Speaking in Cairo, Egypt, Blinken said the U.S. had no knowledge of or involvement in "these incidents" in which at least nine people were killed and thousands injured by exploding pagers in Lebanon.