Biden arrives in Israel for his 11th trip to the Middle East

TEL AVIV, Israel – Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel on Tuesday for his 11th visit to the region since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. The US is hoping to revive efforts to reach a ceasefire following the assassination of Hamas’ top leader Yahya Sinwar, but so far all warring parties appear to be committed to it.

Israel is still at war with Hamas more than a year after the militant group’s Oct. 7 attack and with Hezbollah in Lebanon, where it launched a ground offensive earlier this month. Israel is expected to strike Iran after its ballistic missile attack on October 1.

In another development, Lebanon’s health ministry said the death toll from an Israeli attack near one of Beirut’s main hospitals had risen to 13 and dozens more were injured. The airstrike late Monday hit buildings opposite the capital’s main government hospital. According to the ministry, 57 other people were injured in the strike, including seven who were in critical condition.

Blinken landed just hours after Hezbollah fired a barrage of rockets into central Israel, triggering airstrike sirens in the country’s most populous areas and at the international airport but causing no apparent damage or injuries. The Israeli military said it intercepted most of the five projectiles, with one landing in open terrain.

At around the same time, another 15 projectiles were fired from Lebanon into northern Israel, the military said.

Blinken is expected to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials. After Israel, he is expected to visit a number of Arab countries, likely including Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

“Secretary Blinken will discuss the importance of ending the war in Gaza, ensuring the release of all hostages and easing the suffering of the Palestinian people,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.

Blinken will also discuss planning for the end of the conflict and “the need to find a new path forward that allows Palestinians to rebuild their lives,” Miller added.

He said Blinken would also underscore the need for a dramatic increase in the amount of humanitarian aid reaching Gaza, something Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made clear in a letter to Israeli officials last week.

That letter reminded Israel that the Biden administration could be forced by U.S. law to cut some forms of military aid if the delivery of humanitarian aid continues to be hampered.

Blinken’s previous trips have done little to end hostilities, but he has managed to increase aid deliveries to Gaza in the past.

The United States, Egypt and Qatar have brokered months of talks between Israel and Hamas, trying to reach an agreement in which the militants would release dozens of hostages in return for an end to the war, a permanent ceasefire and the release of Palestinian prisoners.

But both Israel and Hamas accused each other of making new and unacceptable demands over the summer, and talks stalled in August.

The US has also tried to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, but those efforts collapsed as tensions rose last month with a series of Israeli strikes that killed the militant group’s top leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and most of his top commanders .

According to local health authorities, Israel is currently conducting another major operation in the already devastated north of the Gaza Strip, which has killed hundreds of Palestinians in the last two weeks.

In Lebanon, Israel has carried out waves of heavy airstrikes in southern Beirut and in the south and east of the country, areas where Hezbollah has a large presence. Hezbollah has fired hundreds of rockets, missiles and drones into Israel, including some that reached the country’s populous center.

On October 7, 2023, Hamas-led militants stormed southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking another 250 hostage. About 100 of the prisoners are still held in Gaza, a third of whom are believed to be dead.

The Israeli offensive has killed over 42,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and injured tens of thousands, according to local health authorities. Authorities did not say how many were combatants, but said more than half were women and children. Furthermore, it has caused massive devastation across the territory, displacing around 90% of the 2.3 million inhabitants.