(Bloomberg) -- The US’s top diplomat and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed Tuesday that the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar opens new possibilities for ending the conflict in the Gaza Strip but gave no indication that a 2 1/2-hour meeting yielded an accord on what comes next.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, on his 11th trip to the region since Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023, called for “charting a new path forward” that “allows Palestinians to rebuild their lives and provides governance, security and reconstruction for Gaza,” according to a US readout of their meeting in Jerusalem.
Blinken’s discussion with Israeli officials included a detailed discussion of postwar scenarios, including a transition to unification of the West Bank and Gaza under the Palestinian Authority, a State Department official told reporters on condition of anonymity. Israel has rejected any such role for the Palestinian Authority without proposing an alternative.
Netanyahu, who has vowed to carry on the fight against Iran-backed Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, said that Sinwar’s killing by Israeli soldiers last week could help achieve Israel’s war objectives, according to his office. But he also emphasized the need for the US and Israel to join forces against “the Iranian threat.”
The US is pressing Israel to avoid hitting Iran’s oil-export or nuclear sites in its promised retaliation for Iranian missile strikes on Oct. 1., fearing that could trigger a regional war and push up energy prices.
On Tuesday, Iran reiterated that Arab states shouldn’t let the US or Israel use their airspace or bases in their territories for Israel’s expected strike. Iran has warned them that, if they do, they’ll be potential targets in a potential counter-strike.
Blinken, who also plans to stop in Riyadh on this trip to consult with Saudi officials, is pursuing what will likely be his last attempt to achieve a halt to fighting before the US presidential election on Nov. 5. Yet the White House may have to be content with preventing hostilities from escalating before the vote, given that Israeli leaders are buoyed by their recent gains on the battlefield and determined to press on.
Gaza has been pounded by Israeli air strikes and ground attacks for more than a year since Iran-backed Hamas swarmed into southern Israel. Still, Hamas fighters are regrouping in part of Gaza’s north, spurring Israel to step up operations.
Israel-Hezbollah Strikes
Netanyahu is adamant Israel will continue with its military operations against Hezbollah, regardless of international pressure for a de-escalation, according to a Western official who met him in recent days.
Israel’s military said late Tuesday that it has confirmed that it killed Hashem Safieddine, who had been considered the likely successor to slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. Hezbollah didn’t immediately comment.
Most of Israel’s military force is now concentrated in Lebanon, the domain of Hezbollah, which has also been severely weakened by Israeli attacks and had most of its leadership killed in the last six weeks.
Israeli Defense Secretary Yoav Gallant said in a meeting with Blinken Tuesday that its attacks in Lebanon “will continue systematically until it is possible to ensure the safe return of Israel’s northern communities to their homes and the withdrawal of Hezbollah forces from southern Lebanon,” according to his office.
Israel and Hezbollah continued to trade heavy fire over the past 24 hours. An Israeli overnight attack near Beirut’s Rafik Hariri University Hospital killed 13 people including a child, and wounded almost 60, according to Lebanese officials. They said the strike caused major damage to the hospital, one of the biggest in Lebanon.
Israel said it didn’t hit the hospital and instead struck a nearby Hezbollah target.
Hezbollah launched several missiles toward Tel Aviv hours before Blinken landed. The Israeli military said it intercepted most of the projectiles or they fell in open areas. The salvo still meant hundreds of thousands of people had to rush into shelters.
This week, the Israeli military widened its campaign in Lebanon to target Al Qard Al Hassan Association, a bank-like institution it says helps fund Hezbollah’s operations. It also accused the Shiite group of hoarding cash and gold in a bunker under another Beirut hospital.
Administrators of the hospital, Sahel General, denied that.
UN Resolution
Biden’s main envoy for Israel-Hezbollah affairs, Amos Hochstein, was in Beirut on Monday to speak to allies of the militant group. He was trying to see under what conditions a UN Security Council resolution — known as 1701, it helped end a 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah — could be fully implemented by both sides.
Israel wants Hezbollah to disarm and keep its fighters away from the Israeli border, as per 1701’s stipulations.
But Israel has given no indication it will cease surveillance flights over Lebanon — a breach of the resolution — and has indicated it wants the right to strike Hezbollah post-conflict if its fighters approach the Israeli territory. While that would be difficult for Lebanese politicians to accept, it would enable the tens of thousands of Israelis displaced from northern communities to return home, a key objective for Netanyahu.
Israel’s attacks on Lebanon have forced about 1.2 million people — out of a population of roughly 5.5 million — to flee their homes.
(Updates with Israel saying it confirmed killing of another Hezbollah leader in 10th paragraph)
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