With Sinwar and Safieddine dead, US Blinken begs Israel to say ‘now is the time’ to end Gaza war

TEL AVIV, October 23 — US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said today that “the time has come” to end the conflict in Gaza and urged Israel to avoid further escalation with Iran.

Israel is fighting Iran-backed Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, and has vowed to retaliate against Iran’s Oct. 1 missile strike.

In Lebanon, state media reported an Israeli drone strike on Tyre, after the army warned residents in parts of the coastal city to flee ahead of operations targeting Hezbollah.

The warning sparked a new exodus from the once-bustling city perched on the Mediterranean coast, and AFPTV footage showed a plume of black smoke rising from the town after the strike.

“The situation is very bad, we are evacuating people,” said Mortada Mhanna, who heads Tyre’s disaster management unit.

“You could say the entire city of Tire is being evacuated,” said Bilal Kashmar, the unit’s media officer.

Blinken’s visit to the region is his 11th since the start of the Gaza war and his first since violence between Israel and Hezbollah escalated into all-out war late last month.

The war in Gaza began with the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which left 1,206 dead, most of them civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli figures.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed 42,718 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-controlled territory’s Health Ministry that the UN considers reliable.

“Since October 7 a year ago, Israel has achieved most of its strategic objectives regarding Gaza… Now is the time to turn these successes into lasting strategic success,” Blinken said as he left Israel, after meetings with the Prime Minister. Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior officials.

On aid to Gaza, Blinken said he sees “progress being made, which is a good thing, but more progress needs to be made and, more importantly, it needs to be sustained.”

On Israel’s commitment to retaliate for the October 1 Iranian missile attack, the top US diplomat said: ‘It is also very important that Israel responds in a way that does not create further escalation . »

After Israel, Blinken will travel to Saudi Arabia, which has suspended negotiations for a normalization deal with Israel until a Palestinian state is created.

The US diplomat urged Israel to seize what he described as an “incredible opportunity” to move towards a deal with Saudi Arabia.

Previous U.S. efforts to end the war in Gaza and contain the regional fallout have failed, as has the attempt by President Joe Biden and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron to secure a temporary ceasefire in Lebanon.

Relatives and supporters of Israelis held hostage in Gaza since the October 7 attacks by Palestinian militants hold signs and national flags calling on the United States to intervene for their release, during a demonstration in the coastal city from Tel Aviv as US Secretary of State. visits on October 22, 2024, — pic AFP

Hostages still in Gaza

During his meeting with Netanyahu on Tuesday, Blinken urged his ally to use the assassination of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza to work for a cease-fire.

Sinwar was the architect of the October 7, 2023 attack that sparked the war in Gaza.

Welcoming his killing, Netanyahu said it did not mean the war was over, although he added it could be the beginning of the end.

The militants also brought 251 hostages back to Gaza. Ninety-seven people are still detained there, 34 of whom, according to the Israeli army, have died.

During his meeting with the Israeli prime minister in Jerusalem, Blinken “stressed the need to capitalize” on Sinwar’s death, said US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller.

This would be done by “securing the release of all hostages and ending the conflict in Gaza in a way that provides lasting security for both Israelis and Palestinians,” he added.

Netanyahu told Blinken that Sinwar’s death “could have a positive impact on the return of the hostages,” according to a statement from the prime minister’s office.

Blinken also insisted that more aid be allowed into the besieged Gaza Strip, as concerns mount for tens of thousands of civilians trapped by fighting in the hard-to-access north.

Israel launched a major air and ground offensive in northern Gaza this month, vowing to prevent Hamas militants from regrouping in the area.

The only medical establishment still partially functional in the targeted area has “neither medicines nor medical supplies,” warned Hossam Abu Safia, director of Kamal Adwan hospital.

“People are being killed in the streets and we cannot help them. Corpses lie in the streets.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speak to journalists during a meeting in Tel Aviv on October 22, 2024. — photo AFP

Heir to Hezbollah

After nearly a year of war with Hamas in Gaza, Israel turned to Lebanon in late September, promising to secure its northern border under fire from Hezbollah.

Israel intensified its airstrikes against Hezbollah strongholds across the country and sent ground troops late last month, in a war that has left at least 1,552 people dead since September 23, according to an AFP tally at based on figures from the Lebanese Ministry of Health.

Hezbollah continued its attacks on Israel on Wednesday, claiming to have fired rockets at an Israeli military intelligence base on the outskirts of Tel Aviv’s commercial hub.

On Tuesday, the Israeli army announced that it had killed the Hezbollah cleric supposed to succeed the assassinated leader of the group, Hassan Nasrallah, in an airstrike three weeks ago.

Hezbollah has not issued a statement confirming Hachem Safieddine’s death, but a source close to the group said the militant leader had been out of contact since the strikes.

“We have reached Nasrallah, his replacement and most of Hezbollah’s senior leadership,” Israeli army chief Gen. Herzi Halevi said in a statement.

On Tuesday, the Israeli army again struck Beirut’s southern suburbs, once a densely populated Hezbollah stronghold, after issuing new calls for residents to evacuate the area. -AFP