US secretary of state Antony Blinken stressed in talks with Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Tuesday the need to “capitalise” on Israel’s killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar to secure a ceasefire and hostage-release deal to end the Gaza war.
Israel said the talks also addressed postwar arrangements in Gaza, ways to end the war in Lebanon and the Iranian threat to Israel.
“[Mr Blinken] underscored the need to capitalise on Israel’s successful action to bring Yahya Sinwar to justice by securing the release of all hostages and ending the conflict in Gaza in a way that provides lasting security for Israelis and Palestinians alike,” the US state department said in a statement following the Jerusalem meeting.
This is Mr Blinken’s 11th visit to the Middle East since the Hamas-led attack on October 7th, 2023, in which 1,200 people were killed, according to Israel. The Middle East landscape is significantly different now following Israel’s assassination of the leaders of both Hamas and Hizbullah and its invasion of southern Lebanon. Recent developments have raised optimism in some quarters that the time may now be ripe for a diplomatic breakthrough on both the Lebanon and Gaza fronts.
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In Lebanon, US special envoy Amos Hochstein, in talks in Beirut on Monday, said United Nations resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 Israel-Hizbullah war, needs a more robust implementation mechanism. The resolution calls for the area south of the Litani river – about 30km from Lebanon’s southern border – to be free of all armed forces except those of the Lebanese state and Unifil. Israel hopes that its military operation north of the border, which is expected to continue for a few more weeks, will end with removing the Hizbullah threat.
Concerning Gaza, Israeli and Egyptian intelligence officials, in an effort to break the deadlock, are promoting a new proposal that would involve the release of a limited number of living hostages in exchange for an initial 12-day ceasefire. However, as long as Hamas remains without a leader to replace Yahya Sinwar, it is difficult to see any progress being achieved.
Washington also wants to see a dramatic increase in the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza and has warned Israel it will limit the supply of arms unless there is a big improvement before the onset of winter.
As Mr Blinken held talks with Israeli leaders, Israel continued its attacks in both Lebanon and Gaza.
The Lebanese health ministry said 63 people were killed in Israeli attacks on Monday, including in Beirut neighbourhoods. Israel claimed a Hizbullah weapons storage facility was situated beneath a Beirut tower block that was toppled in one Israeli air strike.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry said 115 people were killed in Gaza in the past two days – bringing the total to 42,718 since the start of the war. Most of those killed this week were in Jabaliya in northern Gaza, where Israeli forces have been operating for three weeks.
It was confirmed on Tuesday that a drone that Hizbullah launched on Saturday at Caesarea, north of Tel Aviv, hit Mr Netanyahu’s private villa. According to the prime minister’s office, Mr Netanyahu and his wife were not there at the time of the attack.
The precision hit has been the worst kept secret in Israel since the weekend but the country’s censor allowed the news to be released only on Tuesday.
Mr Netanyahu called the attack an “Iranian assassination attempt” against himself and his wife, warning that “Iran and its partners in its axis of evil will pay a heavy price”.
Israel has still not responded to Iran’s October 1st attack when 200 ballistic missiles were fired at the country. Israel has reportedly already decided on its response, expected to be significant, and Tehran has made it clear that it in turn will hit back.
