Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel on Tuesday on his 11th visit to the region since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. The US hopes to revive cease-fire efforts after the killing of top Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, but so far all the warring parties appear to be digging in.
Israel is still at war with Hamas more than a year after the militant group’s Oct 7 attack, and with Hezbollah in Lebanon, where it launched a ground invasion earlier this month. Israel is also expected to strike Iran after its ballistic missile attack on Oct 1.
Blinken landed just hours after Hezbollah launched a barrage of rockets into central Israel, setting off air raid sirens in the country’s most populated areas and its international airport, but causing no apparent damage or injuries. The Israeli military said it intercepted most of the five projectiles, with one landing in an open area.
Another 15 projectiles were fired from Lebanon into northern Israel at around the same time, the military said.
BLINKEN’S CRUCIAL MEETINGS
Blinken is expected to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials. Following Israel, he’s expected to visit a number of Arab countries, likely to include Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
“Secretary Blinken will discuss the importance of bringing the war in Gaza to an end, securing the release of all hostages, and alleviating the suffering of the Palestinian people,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.
Blinken will also discuss planning for when the conflict ends and “the need to chart a new path forward that enables Palestinians to rebuild their lives,” Miller added.
He said Blinken also would underscore the need for a dramatic increase in the amount of humanitarian aid reaching Gaza, something that Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin made clear in a letter to Israeli officials last week.
That letter reminded Israel that the Biden administration could be forced by US law to curtail some forms of military aid should the delivery of humanitarian aid continue to be hindered.
Blinken’s previous trips have yielded little in the way of ending hostilities, but he has managed to increase aid deliveries to Gaza in the past.
ATTEMPTS FOR PEACE TALKS
The United States, Egypt and Qatar have brokered months of talks between Israel and Hamas, trying to strike a deal in which the militants would release dozens of hostages in return for an end to the war, a lasting cease-fire and the release of Palestinian prisoners.
But both Israel and Hamas accused each other of making new and unacceptable demands over the summer, and the talks ground to a halt in August.
The US has also tried to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah, but those efforts fell apart as tensions spiked last month with a series of Israeli strikes that killed the militant group’s top leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and most of his senior commanders.
Israel is currently waging another major operation in already-devastated northern Gaza, which has killed hundreds of Palestinians over the last two weeks, according to local health authorities.
In Lebanon, Israel has carried out waves of heavy airstrikes across southern Beirut and the country’s south and east, areas where Hezbollah has a strong presence. Hezbollah has fired hundreds of rockets, missiles and drones into Israel, including some that have reached the country’s populous centre.
Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking another 250 hostage. Around 100 of the captives are still held in Gaza, a third of whom are believed to be dead.
Israel’s offensive has killed over 42,000 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded tens of thousands, according to local health authorities, who do not say how many were combatants but say more than half were women and children. It has also caused massive devastation across the territory and displaced around 90% of its population of 2.3 million.
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