Blinken urges Netanyahu to reach Gaza cease-fire after killing of Hamas leader

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to capitalize on the killing last week of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar to end the war with Hamas in Gaza and secure the release of the remaining 101 hostages, about 60 of whom are believed to be alive.

Netanyahu, according to news accounts of the 2½-hour meeting, told Blinken that Sinwar’s killing could have a “positive effect” on the release of the hostages and Israel achieving its goal of ending Hamas rule in the narrow territory along the Mediterranean Sea.

The top U.S. diplomat, on his 11th visit to the Mideast since the Israeli-Hamas war erupted more than a year ago, also pressed Netanyahu to allow more humanitarian aid to reach famished Palestinians in Gaza, especially tens of thousands of civilians trapped by continued fighting in hard-to-reach northern Gaza.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Blinken urged the Israeli leader to end “the conflict in Gaza in a way that provides lasting security for Israelis and Palestinians alike.”

“He discussed the importance of charting a new path forward in the post-conflict period that allows Palestinians to rebuild their lives and provides governance, security, and reconstruction for Gaza,” Miller said.

Netanyahu and Blinken also discussed Israel’s ongoing fighting with Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants based in Lebanon.

The Israeli leader told Blinken told there was a need for a security and political change in Lebanon that would allow displaced Israelis to return safely to their homes in northern Israel.

The Blinken-Netanyahu meeting came six days after the killing of Sinwar and a little more than a week after the United States threatened to withhold some U.S. military aid without progress in delivering more assistance to Palestinians in Gaza, where the United Nations says a humanitarian crisis continues unabated.

With the U.S. presidential election two weeks away, President Joe Biden asked Blinken to return to push for progress in reaching a cease-fire in the Gaza fighting, seeing new hope after Israel's killing of Sinwar. Sinwar was the architect of Hamas’ October 7 terror attack on Israel a year ago that killed 1,200 people and led to the capture of 250 hostages.

U.S. officials have said that Sinwar was intransigent in negotiations for a cease-fire, but no new talks have started since his killing. Months of negotiations brokered by the United States, Egypt and Qatar failed to secure a halt in the fighting in Gaza and the release of hostages still being held by Hamas.

A senior State Department official told reporters ahead of Blinken’s visit to the region that prospects for quickly reviving those talks are uncertain.

Israel’s counteroffensive in the Gaza Strip has killed more than 42,600 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, with Israel saying that the death toll includes several thousand Hamas militants.

The United States, United Kingdom, European Union and others have designated Hezbollah and Hamas as terrorist organizations.

Blinken on previous trips to the Mideast has sought to prevent the conflict from escalating into a regional war. But Israel since last month has been striking across Lebanon to destroy Hezbollah, which like Hamas is backed by Iran's clerical rulers.

Miller said Blinken again called for a "diplomatic resolution" in Lebanon and compliance with U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 of 2006 that calls for the long-term disarmament of Hezbollah but also a withdrawal of Israeli forces from its northern neighbor.

Hours before the Blinken-Netanyahu talks, Hezbollah said it 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 Tuesday near Beirut’s main government hospital killed at least 13 people and wounded 57 others.

The Israeli military said it hit multiple Hezbollah targets in Beirut, including the central base for the militant group’s naval force.

Making his 11th visit to the region since the conflict in Gaza erupted in October 2023, Blinken’s schedule Tuesday includes talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Months of negotiations brokered by the United States, Egypt and Qatar failed to secure a halt in the fighting in Gaza and the release of hostages still being held by Hamas.

Blinken is also expected to make several other stops in the region, including a visit Wednesday to Jordan.

The State Department official said that without a cease-fire, discussions with Arab leaders would include trying to refine proposals for governing Gaza once the conflict ends. The official said the U.S. side has elements of a post-conflict plan it was ready to discuss directly with the Israelis as well.

Nimrod Goren, senior fellow for Israeli Affairs at the Middle East Institute, told VOA that gaps between Israeli and Hamas positions on any potential cease-fire terms “still very much exist” and that he doubts there will be a diplomatic breakthrough during Blinken’s visit.

“The gaps are major, basically Israel wants Hamas not to govern Gaza anymore and not to exist in Gaza anymore as a security threat, and Hamas wants the opposite. So, beyond the immediate issue of the hostages, the deep interests and needs of each side are in contrast to each other,” Goren said.

Philippe Lazzarini, head of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, called Tuesday for an immediate halt in fighting, “even if for a few hours,” to allow for families in northern Gaza to be able to evacuate to safer areas.

“Nearly three weeks of non-stop bombardments from the Israeli Forces as the death toll increases,” Lazzarini said in a statement. “In northern Gaza, people are just waiting to die. They feel deserted, hopeless and alone. They live from one hour to the next, fearing death at every second.”

He said U.N. staff “cannot find food, water or medical care.”

Iran-backed Hezbollah launched aerial attacks against Israel following the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel. Hamas killed about 1,200 people and captured about 250 others.

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, United Kingdom, European Union and others have designated Hezbollah and Hamas as terrorist organizations.

VOA's Kim Lewis contributed to this report. Some information for this story was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.