in jerusalem. u.s. secretary of state antony blinken is scheduled meet with several arab leaders today as the u.s. tries cool tensions in the middle east. blinken is in amman, jordan where he will meet with his counterparts from jordan, egypt, saudi arabia, the united arab emirates and qatar. a palestinian authority will also be in attendance. the trip comes after he met with israeli leaders in an attempt to get them to agree to humanitarian pauses in the war against hamas. we need to do more to protect palestinian civilians. we ve been clear that as israel conducts his campaign to defeat hamas, how it does so matters. it matters because it s the right and lawful thing to do. prime minister benjamin netanyahu is refusing the idea of a cease fire, saying the more than 240 hostages still held by hamas must be released first. the united states would not agree to a cease fire after, the bombing of pearl harbor or after the terrorist attack of 9/11. israel will not agree to