U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that Israel’s killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar presents a “real opportunity” to achieve an agreement to free the remaining hostages still being held by the militant group in the Gaza Strip.
Speaking to reporters in Tel Aviv before flying to Saudi Arabia, Blinken said Israel has achieved several successes in the war against Hamas, including degrading the group’s military capabilities. The top U.S. diplomat said what remains is bringing the hostages home and bringing the war to an end.
Blinken met with Saudi leader Mohammed bin Salman for an hour in Riyadh and is heading to Qatar and then Britain for further talks with officials to try to broker a halt to Israeli fighting with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Both militant groups are supported militarily and financially by Iran.
A State Department spokesman said in a statement that Blinken emphasized to bin Salman “the importance of bringing the war in Gaza to an end and releasing all hostages.” Hamas is believed to still be holding about 100 captives, although a third of them may be dead.
Blinken and bin Salman “continued discussions on how to establish security, governance, and reconstruction in the post-conflict period,” the statement said.
Blinken said ending the war with Hamas must be done in a way that keeps the Iran-backed militants out of Gaza and ensures Israeli troops do not stay there.
Plans for a post-war Gaza, including issues such as governance, security, reconstruction and what the international community can do to aid Palestinians, will be the topic of Blinken’s discussions with Arab partners in the coming days, he said.
The State Department said Blinken will meet with Arab counterparts Friday in London following a stop Thursday in Qatar.
A week after Blinken and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin sent a letter warning Israel to increase the amount of humanitarian aid reaching Gaza or risk losing access to U.S. military aid, Blinken said Wednesday there has been progress, but that there needs to be more and it needs to be sustained.
Blinken told reporters he issued a similar warning earlier this year, which was followed by Israel quickly facilitating an increase in aid that did not last. The threats are linked to legal obligations that U.S. humanitarian aid should not be hindered by a recipient of U.S. military aid.
Pressed on whether the new warning is an empty threat, Blinken said Wednesday: “I am determined to follow the law. I will follow the law.”
Israeli forces carried out airstrikes Wednesday on Lebanon’s southern port city of Tyre, hours after the Israeli military issued new evacuation orders that included the area.
Israel also said it struck several Hezbollah-linked sites in Beirut overnight.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah confirmed that an Israeli airstrike in early October killed Hashem Safieddine. He was a strongman who rose through the ranks of Hezbollah over decades to become the second-most powerful person within the organization, behind his cousin, Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader who was killed in an Israeli attack in late September.
Safieddine, who was about 60, was widely expected to be elected the group's next leader after Nasrallah’s killing. The deaths of the two Hezbollah leaders were part of a series of blows dealt by Israel that has left the militant group in disarray.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called for a diplomatic resolution to the fighting in Lebanon as she visited Beirut on Wednesday.
Baerbock said “a complete destabilization of the country would be fatal for the most religiously diverse society of all states in the Middle East and also for the entire region.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Blinken 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.
Blinken said Wednesday that it is important to resolve the conflict to allow civilians on both sides of the borders to “return to their homes in peace and security.”
He reiterated the need to implement a 2006 U.N. Security Council Resolution that calls for the long-term disarmament of Hezbollah but also a withdrawal of Israeli forces from its northern neighbor.
The war in Gaza began with the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on southern Israel, during which the militants killed about 1,200 people and took 250 hostage. Hamas is still holding about 100 hostages, with a third of them believed to be dead.
Israel’s counteroffensive in the Gaza Strip has killed more than 42,700 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.
Some information for this story was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
