Blinken urges Israel to reach Gaza truce, allow more aid

JERUSALEM, Israel

United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Israel’s leaders to work toward a ceasefire in Gaza on Tuesday, the latest call for a truce coming as fighting raged in the territory’s aid-starved north and Israeli strikes hit Lebanon.

Blinken is on his 11th trip to the Middle East since Hamas’s attack on Israel more than a year ago triggered the Gaza war, and his first since Israel’s conflict with Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah escalated last month.

The top US diplomat told Israel’s leaders that the army’s killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar last week presented an “opportunity” for a truce and the release of the hostages Hamas seized during the October 7, 2023 attack.

“I believe very much that the death of Sinwar does create an important opportunity to bring the hostages home, to bring the war to an end and to ensure Israel’s security,” Blinken said as he met Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Tel Aviv.

During an earlier discussion with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, Blinken pressed for more aid to be allowed into the besieged Palestinian territory as concerns rise for tens of thousands of civilians trapped by a major Israeli assault in the hard-to-reach north.

A US official said that Netanyahu had recognized the “seriousness” of Blinken’s warnings to ramp up aid access to Gaza, “but it’s the results that matter.”

Washington has warned it may suspend some of its military assistance if Israel does not quickly improve humanitarian access to the area.

Netanyahu also denied claims that Israel was implementing a controversial plan for an intense siege to starve out northern Gaza, the US official said.

Previous efforts by the United States — Israel’s top ally and main arms supplier — to end the Gaza war and contain the regional fallout have failed, as did a previous bid to secure a temporary ceasefire in Lebanon.

Blinken’s visit comes as Israel weighs its response to Iran’s missile attack on October 1.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told Blinken that Israel expects Washington’s support “following our attack on Iran,” his office said.

Blinken again called for a “diplomatic resolution” in Lebanon and compliance with a UN resolution that ended Israel’s last war with Hezbollah in 2006.

After Israel, Blinken will visit Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, a last-minute change from plans to head to Jordan caused by scheduling issues, a US official said.

Fighting meanwhile raged in Lebanon, with the Israeli military issuing new calls for residents to evacuate areas in the southern suburbs on capital Beirut on Tuesday evening, warning of imminent attacks.

After nearly a year of war in Gaza, Israel shifted its focus to Lebanon in late September, vowing to secure its northern border to allow tens of thousands of Israelis displaced by cross-border fire to return to their homes.