Blinken in Israel as the US aims to restart Gaza cease-fire talks

2024-10-22 10:19:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The American Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, on October 22 is staying in Israel on his 11th visit to the region since the war between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian group declared a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union, began.

He is expected to meet with key officials as the US aims to restart ceasefire efforts following the killing of top Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

Blinken arrived in Israel hours after Hezbollah — the militant group and political party that controls most of southern Lebanon — fired a barrage of rockets into central Israel on Tuesday.

Hezbollah has been declared a terrorist organization by the United States. Meanwhile, the European Union has blacklisted only the military wing of the group, but not the political party. The Hezbollah party has seats in the Lebanese Parliament.

The US, Egypt and Qatar have been brokering talks between Israel and Hamas for months, trying to reach an agreement so that Hamas would release hostages in exchange for an end to the war and a lasting cease-fire would be reached in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners.

Both Israel and Hamas accused each other of imposing unacceptable conditions over the summer, and talks broke off in August.

The US is also trying to broker a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hezbollah, but those efforts failed when tensions rose last month and Israel carried out a series of attacks, including killing the group's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and other commanders. high.

Israel is currently conducting a major operation in northern Gaza. Also, Israel is carrying out a series of attacks across Lebanon, targeting Hezbollah.

The war in Gaza began after Hamas killed nearly 1,200 people and kidnapped nearly 250 others during the October 7 attack. Since then, as a result of the Israeli offensive, more than 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza.

Since the war in Gaza began, Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged fire on the border. But, at the beginning of October, the situation escalated and Israel announced the launch of a ground operation in the south of Lebanon against Hezbollah./REL