things have changed. doesn t israel now have to wind this down? isn t that what you want? we all want to see this conflict end as quickly as possible. we all want to see the suffering, people who are caught in the middle, end as quickly as possible. it s vital israel be able to do everything possible to ensure october 7th never happens again. it has made good progress toward that objective. you say they made significant progress. yet, an important minister said they are about to attack khan yunis in the south strongly. there are people there who haven t even been moved back to the north. we have seen now a phase down of the operations in the north. that s important. we have seen the withdrawal of a significant number of israeli forces in gaza, particularly in the north where they have
efforts to protect civilians in gaza. later, secretary of state visited bahrain, and spoke about regional cooperation to curtail attacks by houthi rebels in the red sea. the latest stops in his trip through the middle east occur as the situation, of course, continues to be very volatile. andrea mitchell, nbc news chief foreign affairs correspondent and anchor of this hour, has been traveling with the secretary. she joins us live from tel aviv where she spoke exclusively with secretary of state blinken. it s great to see you. thanks so much for having me. it s great to talk to you. i ve been traveling, as you point out, with the secretary of state as he visited all of the key allies all week across the region. this shuttle diplomacy, his fourth to the region, is aimed
he and virtually every other leader i talked to supports moving forward with integration, normalization, whatever you want to call it. but, of course, the conflict in gaza needs to end and there has to be a pathway for palestinian rights. thank you, mr. secretary. thanks, andrea. good to be with you. joining me now for more, nbc news chief foreign correspondent richard engel and the ambassador and former advisor to israel s prime minister. richard, to you. secretary blinken was just in bahrain. that s the base for the fifth fleet. he was asked about what is happening right now in the middle east, particularly the focus on the red sea attacks, the latest the largest from the houthi rebels. he talked about that. i want to play that for you and
is someone who wants normalization. the arab countries are interested in a more integrated region, provided that the palestinian issue is addressed. this is where america and israel, the u.s. foreign policy and israeli foreign policy, diverge in a way that s almost unbridgeable. the secretary is a top diplomat. he wouldn t tell you that he is disappointed or disillusioned or can t work with mr. netanyahu. he has to work with what he has in front of him. the truth of the matter is, if this is the consensus among the others and particularly the saudis, there could be a normalization process, there could be a more integrated and coordinated region, provided the palestinian issue is addressed, beginning with gaza and then moving to a border across it, i
i asked him, are you concerned about a war from the united states? are you worried you are picking a fight that you can t win? this is not just the united states. it s the united states and an international coalition. at the end of the day, you are a small militia group that controls part of yemen, including the capital and many of the military capabilities. he said that they were not concerned, that they believe much of the world is behind them. they believe that they are on the side of justice, that they have god on their side. he said the equation is simple. if israel stops its aggression against the gaza strip and stops its blockade on gaza, then immediately and automatically they will stop attacking the commercial ships in the red sea that are bound for israel or assisting israel. it s not as simple as it might seem, that pirate-like activity is going on and the u.s. would