U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in the Middle East hoping to broker an elusive cease-fire deal aimed at ending Israel’s devastating war in the Gaza Strip. But the top U.S. diplomat left the region on August 21 -- his ninth visit during the 10-month-old war -- without securing any major breakthroughs. Experts say key differences remain between Israel and EU- and U.S.-designated Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, the two sides in the conflict. “This is still very much a work in progress, and I'm personally not optimistic,”…
