(Bloomberg) -- US President Joe Biden’s top diplomat headed to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, continuing his push for a broad truce in the various conflicts between Israel and Iranian-backed militants.
Antony Blinken reiterated the White House’s warning to Israel that it shouldn’t retaliate against an Iranian missile attack this month in a way that worsens hostilities in the region.
“We’ll always stand with Israel in its defense,” he said to reporters in Tel Aviv as he prepared to board a plane to Riyadh. “It’s also very important that Israel responds in ways that do not create greater escalation.”
Overnight, Israel said it confirmed it killed Hashem Safieddine, a cleric widely expected to become Hezbollah’s new leader, in an airstrike in Lebanon three weeks ago. Israel had said earlier this month it was fairly sure Safieddine was dead.
His death hasn’t been announced by the Iran-backed militant group, whose previous leader, Hassan Nasrallah, was killed by an Israeli strike on Beirut in September. That was as Israel stepped up its campaign against Hezbollah to end its military threat and force fighters away from the northern border.
Hezbollah fired more than 100 rockets and missiles at Israel on Tuesday, including long-range ones that were shot down over Tel Aviv, the Israeli military said. On Wednesday, two more reached Tel Aviv air space before being intercepted.
Israel has in recent weeks carried out a string of assassinations on the leaders of Hezbollah and Hamas, groups it has been fighting for the past year. Its leaders are buoyed by these successes on the battlefield and are determined to press on, showing little inclination to agree to cease-fires yet.
Blinken, in meetings on Tuesday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and others, urged Israel not to lose sight of its long-term security goals, including achieving peace with more Arab states.
“Now is the time to turn those successes into a very strategic success,” Blinken said to reporters.
He said last week’s killing of of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, in particular, created a possibility to end the war in Gaza and bring home the dozens of Israeli hostages still held there.
“Israel has achieved most of its strategic objectives when it comes to Gaza, all with the idea of making sure Oct. 7 can never happen again,” Blinken said, referring to Hamas’s attack on Israel in 2023 that triggered the conflict. “It’s managed to dismantle Hamas’s military capacity and destroy much of its arsenal. This has come at a cost — a great cost — to Palestinian civilians in Gaza.”
Hamas killed 1,200 people and took 250 hostage when its fighters raided southern Israeli communities and military bases from Gaza. Israel’s subsequent offensive on the Palestinian territory has killed more than 42,000 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry there, and seen much of the population struggle to access food and health care.
Blinken urged Netanyahu and other Israeli officials to get more aid into Gaza. The US has said it may restrict military supplies to Israel if that doesn’t happen by next month.
The war has inflamed tensions in the region and led to widespread anger against Israel in Arab states and the rest of the world.
Saudi-Israeli Normalization
The military fallout has included Hezbollah and the Houthis attacking Israel in solidarity with Hamas, as well as the Yemeni group striking Western-linked ships in the Red Sea.
The US and many other countries consider Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis to be terrorist groups.
Iran and Israel have also fired missiles on one another for the first time.
On Oct. 1, Iran carried out its second such attack this year, firing around 200 ballistic missiles at Israel. They were mostly intercepted and caused little damage, but a civilian was killed in the West Bank by falling debris from a projectile and millions of Israelis were forced into shelters.
Israel has promised to retaliate. The US has backed its stance, but called on it not to hit Iran’s nuclear or oil-export facilities, fearing that could cause a full-on regional war and push up energy prices.
Biden’s especially keen to prevent that outcome before the US elections on Nov. 5, when his vice president, Kamala Harris, faces off against former President Donald Trump.
In Riyadh on Wednesday, Blinken is due to meet Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud.
Before Oct. 7, 2023, the US was close to reaching an historic deal that would have seen Israel and Saudi Arabia normalize diplomatic ties, and Washington and Riyadh boost security and military relations.
The US and Israel are still keen to reach such an agreement, which they believe is crucial to strengthening Israel’s security and weakening Iran. Saudi Arabia’s government is still in favor of a deal. Ye Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto ruler, has said Israel’s government first needs to take concrete steps toward accepting an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza.
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