Kerry Heads to Middle East to Push Truce

Early Monday morning, Secretary of State John Kerry flew to Cairo to join diplomatic efforts to bring stability to the Middle East. His trip follows a weekend that saw a sharp increase in casualties, with Sunday marking the deadliest day for both Israelis and Palestinians. Kerry is expected to push for a return to the truce agreed to in November 2012, as well as encouraging Hamas to agree to the Egypt-proposed ceasefire. Since fighting broke out two weeks ago, more than 500 Palestinians and 20 Israelis have been killed. Two of the Israeli soldiers killed were from the U.S.: Max Steinberg, 24, of California and Sean Carmeli, 21, of Texas. Hamas and Israel agreed to a brief five-hour “humanitarian pause” last week.