United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken is reiterating that it is "clearly not in the interest" of any countries in the region for the war in Gaza to expand. It comes after an Israeli strike killed a Hezbollah commander in Lebanon, according to a Lebanese security source.
"It's clearly not in the interest of anyone — Israel, Lebanon, Hezbollah, for that matter — to see this... to see this escalate and to see an actual conflict," Blinken said to reporters in Saudi Arabia before departing for Israel.
"The Israelis have been very clear with us that they want to find a diplomatic way forward that creates the kind of security that allows Israelis to return home," the top US diplomat said, noting that "nearly 100,000 Israelis have been forced to leave their homes in northern Israel because of the threat coming from Hezbollah in Lebanon."
"We're working intensely on that effort," Blinken said.
He said the US is also working on a diplomatic solution that would allow Lebanese people to return to their homes in southern Lebanon.
Some background: A senior Hezbollah commander, Wissam Tawil, was killed by an Israeli drone strike on his car in southern Lebanon, a Lebanese security source told CNN on Monday.
Tawil is the most senior Hezbollah commander to be killed in an Israeli strike since the onset of daily crossfire between the Lebanon-based group and Israeli forces in October.
On Saturday, Hezbollah launched a rocket barrage on an Israeli airbase in northern Israel, in an attack the group said was a “preliminary response” to the suspected Israeli attack that killed Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri in southern Beirut last week.
On the war in Gaza: Heading next to Israel, the top US diplomat said he will push the Israeli government "on the absolute imperative to do more to protect civilians" in Gaza.
Blinken said is also planning to press Israeli officials on the need for more humanitarian aid to enter the war-torn strip "and also to talk to them about the future direction of their military campaign in Gaza."
He said in meetings with key Arab leaders on Monday, there was "broad agreement" that Israel "should be able to live in peace and security," which would mean the West Bank and Gaza should be unified under a Palestinian-led government with an independent Palestinian state.