WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has told Israeli officials during a meeting of the need to avoid further escalation in Lebanon amid the conflict in Gaza, the State Department said.
He made his remark during a meeting with Israel’s national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi and Ron Dermer, Israel’s minister for strategic affairs, according to the State Department.
The meeting between the US and Israeli officials follows following Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah warned that a major Israeli military operation against Lebanon would be met with a war without “restraint and no rules and no ceilings”.
Meanwhile, Israeli tanks push deeper into western Rafah in south Gaza, firing shells at displaced people’s tents, with one armoured vehicle blown up by a Hamas, Arab media reported. The US describes Israeli Prime Minister’s criticism of the suspension of one US arms delivery to his country as “vexing” and “disappointing” as the public rift between the two allies to intensify.
Israeli forces have conducted deadly air attacks across Gaza over the last 24 hours, including an attack on a home that has killed around eight people in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighbourhood.
Gaza Health Ministry said that around 37,431 people have been killed and more than 85,653 wounded in Israel’s war on Gaza since October 7.
