Blinken visits Israel to deter two-front war, seeks Gaza 'pause'

The US pushed to prevent regional spillover from the Gaza war and to secure an agreement for a humanitarian “pause,” as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was scheduled on Friday to land in Israel for the second time since the fighting began on October 7.

“We are determined to prevent escalation on any of these fronts whether its in southern Lebanon, the West Bank, or anywhere else in the region,” he told reporters before leaving the US on Thursday, in a trip that would also include stops in Jordan and Turkey.

“We’re making sure that this message gets through. It’s not in anyone’s interest for this to escalate and some of the other parties involved recognized that, but we’re going to work on that every single day.”

He spoke as eyes were turned to Lebanon, where Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is expected to deliver his first public address since the war, as violence on Israel’s northern border increased as the IDF kept its major focus on Gaza in the South.

Hezbollah said it had mounted 19 simultaneous strikes on IDF positions on Thursday using guided missiles, artillery, and other weapons, coinciding with what it called strikes using two explosive drones.

In Washington, US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said the White House was concerned by the strike but had not seen evidence Hezbollah was ready to launch an all-out war with Israel.

Blinken is set to arrive as the United States’ strategy to boost Israel’s existing regional allies and to expand its alliances, appeared to be buckling under the pressure of the war.

Bahrain said on Thursday the Gulf state’s ambassador to Israel had returned home and the Israeli ambassador in Manama had left “a while ago,” confirming an earlier statement by its parliament.

The government statement did not however confirm that economic ties had been severed, as the parliament had earlier stated, citing a protest over the war in Gaza.

On Wednesday, Jordan recalled its ambassador as did Colombia and Chile. Bolivia cut its ties with Israel altogether.

Biden heckled by pro-ceasefire Jewish person

Top US officials, including Blinken and President Joe Biden have been beset by protesters calling for a ceasefire.

Biden was speaking to about 200 people in Minnesota late Wednesday when the heckler shouted: “As a rabbi, I need you to call for a ceasefire right now.”

Biden responded: “I think we need a pause. A pause means give time to get the prisoners out.”

The White House later clarified that Biden was referring to the hostages – not prisoners –held by Hamas.

Kirby told reporters that the US would like to see pauses in the fighting to allow for the safe passage of foreign nationals to exit Gaza, a move that began on Wednesday. It’s estimated that there are some 7,500 foreign passport holders, including Americans, who would like to leave. In addition, Hamas is holding 242 hostages.

“We’re not talking about one pause, what we are trying to do is to explore the idea of as many pauses as might be necessary to continue to get aid out and to continue to work to get people out safely, including hostages,” Kirby said.

He noted that Biden had already secured one such pause last month when Hamas released two American hostages.

“That is what we are looking at,” Kirby said, as he explained that these pauses would be to meet certain goals. Each pause will require negotiation and diplomacy, Kirby stated.

He noted that 55 humanitarian aid trucks had gone into Gaza through the Egyptian crossing at Rafah and that more would continue to be sent into the Strip.

But human rights experts have warned that food and medicine are not enough to prevent a humanitarian crisis as the number of Palestinian casualties rose to over 9,000, according to Hamas data.

A number of UN human rights experts accused Israel of genocide with its bombing. The IDF has said it’s going after Hamas terror targets that are hidden within civilian areas, including under hospitals.

Blinken told reporters that “Israel has not only the right, but the obligation to defend itself and to take steps to make sure that this [the October 7 attack] never happens again.”

He cautioned, however, “How Israel does this, matters.”

Reuters contributed to this report.