US says 'time has come' to end Gaza war

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said eacute; Wednesday that “now is the time” to end the war on Gaza and called Israel to avoid “further escalation” in expected response to Iran missile attack.

Mr. Blinken spoke before leaving Tel Aviv for Riyadh, where he is continuing a tour aimed at containing the military escalation in the region, a month after the war in Gaza spilled over into Lebanon with an Israeli military offensive against the pro-Iranian Hezbollah.

In Lebanon, residents of Tyre, a major city in southern Lebanon, fled in panic after the Israeli army called for neighborhoods to be evacuated in preparation for a military operation, local officials said. The state agency then reported a drone strike in Tyre.

The day after talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Mr. Blinken said that “now is the time” to end the war in Gaza, after Israel had achieved “most of its strategic objectives there, with the idea of ​​making sure that October 7 can never happen again.”

He was referring to the unprecedented attack by Palestinian Hamas on October 7, 2023, on Israeli soil, which triggered the war in Gaza.

Mr. Blinken did not, however, announce a resumption of negotiations for a ceasefire, two weeks before the American elections, and after months of fruitless diplomatic efforts.

“It is very important that Israel responds in a way that does not create a greater escalation” after Iran launched some 200 missiles on October 1, Mr. Blinken also pleaded, the day after Tehran warned again of its determination to retaliate in the event of an Israeli attack.

He also called on Israel to seize the “incredible opportunity” to normalize relations with Saudi Arabia, a Middle East heavyweight, a direction “that offers a sustainable path for Israel's security and its place in the region.”

– “Bringing the hostages home” –

On Tuesday, Mr. Blinken said the death of Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader and architect of the October 7 attack killed by Israeli soldiers in the Gaza Strip, offered an “important opportunity to bring the hostages home” and “end the war” in Gaza.

Mr. Netanyahu, according to his office, assured his interlocutor that the death of the Hamas leader “could have a positive effect on the return of the hostages.”

Northern Israel and southern Lebanon © AFP – Jean-Michel CORNU, Cléa PECULIER

The attack of October 7, 2023 resulted in the death of 1,206 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli data, including hostages killed or who died in captivity.

Of the 251 people kidnapped at the time, 97 remain hostages in Gaza, 34 of whom have been declared dead by the army.

Mr. Blinken also maintained pressure on Israel to facilitate humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip, noting “progress” in this area but not “sufficient”.

From the besieged Gaza Strip, where the Israeli army has been waging a devastating offensive in the north of the Palestinian territory since October 6, the Hamas government's Health Ministry launched an appeal on Telegram “to the world, which has failed to provide protection and shelter for our people and has not been able to provide food and medicine, to make an effort to send shrouds.”

At least 42,718 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed in the Israeli retaliatory offensive in Gaza for more than a year, according to the ministry's data, deemed reliable by the UN.

– Exodus to Tyre –

In Lebanon, after new nighttime strikes against the southern suburbs of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold, the Israeli army called for the evacuation of certain neighborhoods of Tyre, which currently has 14,500 inhabitants, including around 4,500 displaced people from neighboring villages, according to the local crisis management center.

“The situation is very bad, we are evacuating everyone,” Mortada Mhanna, who heads the center, told AFP.

The day before, the Israeli army confirmed that it had killed Hashem Safieddine, Hassan Nasrallah's expected successor at the head of Hezbollah, in a strike on Beirut in early October.

Hezbollah has not yet confirmed the death of Hashem Safieddine, the cousin of Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli strike near Beirut on September 27.

His death further weakens this organization, against which Israel entered into open war a month ago, increasing bombings in the neighboring country and launching an offensive on September 30 against southern Lebanon, a Hezbollah stronghold.

At least 1,552 people have been killed in Lebanon since the first massive Israeli strikes on September 23, according to an AFP count based on official data.

Although weakened, the Hezbollah claims daily rocket fire on Israel, and said it targeted a military intelligence base near Tel Aviv again on Wednesday.

An international conference on Lebanon is to be held in Paris on Thursday, but without Israel and Iran, or Mr. Blinken, which suggests little progress towards ending hostilities.

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