Blinken visits Israel focused on de-escalating conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon
The US Secretary of State begins his eleventh tour of the Middle East in the last year, during which he will visit Israel and Jordan. His discussions with Arab leaders seek to refine peace proposals that include the fate of Gaza once the conflict ends. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet with Israeli […]
The US Secretary of State begins his eleventh tour of the Middle East in the last year, during which he will visit Israel and Jordan. His discussions with Arab leaders seek to refine peace proposals that include the fate of Gaza once the conflict ends.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet with Israeli leaders on Tuesday as he tries to revive stalled ceasefire talks in Gaza, allow greater humanitarian access to the besieged enclave and de-escalate the war between Israel and Hezbollah. in Lebanon.
Hours before the talks, Hezbollah said it had fired rockets at Israeli military bases near Tel Aviv and Haifa, while Israel said it intercepted projectiles fired from Lebanon.
Lebanon's Health Ministry said an Israeli attack on Tuesday near Beirut's main government hospital killed at least 13 people and wounded 57 others.
The Israeli military said it had struck multiple Hezbollah targets in Beirut, including the central base of the militant group's naval force.
On his 11th visit to the region since the conflict in Gaza broke out in October 2023, Blinken's agenda on Tuesday includes talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
Months of negotiations mediated by the United States, Egypt and Qatar failed to stop the fighting in Gaza or the release of the hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza.
Blinken is also expected to make other stops in the region, including a visit Wednesday to Jordan.
A post-conflict plan
The State Department official said that without a ceasefire, discussions with Arab leaders would include trying to refine proposals for governing Gaza once the conflict ends.
He said the American side has elements of a post-conflict plan, which it was also ready to discuss directly with the Israelis.
Nimrod Goren, senior fellow for Israel Affairs at the Middle East Institute, told the VOA that the gaps between Israel and Hamas' positions on any possible ceasefire terms “still exist” and that he doubts there will be a diplomatic breakthrough during Blinken's visit.
“The gaps are big, basically Israel wants Hamas to stop governing Gaza and no longer exist in Gaza as a security threat, and Hamas wants the opposite. So beyond the immediate hostage issue, the deep interests and needs of each side contrast with each other,” Goren said.
Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, called on Tuesday for an immediate cessation of fighting, “even if only for a few hours,” to allow families in northern Gaza to evacuate to more areas. safe.
“Nearly three weeks of non-stop shelling by Israeli forces as the death toll rises,” Lazzarini said in a statement. “In northern Gaza, people are simply waiting to die. They feel abandoned, hopeless and alone. They live from one hour to the next, fearing death every second.”
He said UN staff “cannot find food, water or medical care.”
More than 40,000 dead
Iran-backed Hezbollah launched airstrikes against Israel after the attack of October 7, 2023 by Hamas militants in southern Israel. Hamas killed about 1,200 people and captured about 250 more.
Israel's counteroffensive in the Gaza Strip has killed more than 42,600 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between militants and civilians in its count.
The United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union and others have designated Hezbollah and Hamas as terrorist organizations.
(With information from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters)