By Humeyra Pamuk
LONDON (Reuters) -U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday there was a real sense of urgency in getting to a diplomatic resolution to end the conflict in Lebanon between Israel and Iran-aligned Hezbollah, while calling for the protection of civilians.
Speaking across from him before a bilateral meeting in London, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi told Blinken there was ethnic cleansing going on in northern Gaza, where Israeli forces have intensified their military campaign in recent weeks.
The top U.S. diplomat is in Britain meeting Arab leaders, following a tour of the Middle East this week, his first to the region since Israel killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, suspected mastermind of the group’s Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel which triggered conflict across the region.
Washington, Israel’s close ally, has expressed hope that Sinwar’s death can provide an impetus for an end to the fighting in Gaza.
Blinken has also held talks this week to advance efforts to find a diplomatic solution in Lebanon, where Israel launched a ground campaign and intensified air assault against Hezbollah over the past month that has displaced 1.2 million people.
Earlier on Friday, Blinken met Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati in London.
“We have a sense of real urgency in getting to a diplomatic resolution and the full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, such that there can be real security along the border between Israel and Lebanon,” Blinken said, referring to a resolution in place following the last major Israel-Hezbollah war in 2006.
“Meanwhile, we want… to see civilians protected. We want to make sure that Lebanese armed forces are not caught in the crossfire,” he said.
Israel says its aim in Lebanon is to make it safe for tens of thousands of Israelis to return to homes in northern Israel they fled under fire from Hezbollah, which has been firing rockets across the border in support of the Palestinians since the start of the Gaza war.
Israel has used airstrikes to pound southern Lebanon, Beirut’s southern suburbs and the Bekaa Valley, and sent ground forces into areas near the border.
‘ETHNIC CLEANSING’
In Gaza, Israel launched its campaign following the Hamas-led assault by fighters who killed 1,200 people in Israel and captured more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Israel’s assault on the territory has killed nearly 43,000 Palestinians, according to health authorities there, with thousands of other uncounted dead feared buried under rubble.
In recent weeks, the Israeli military has significantly intensified its military campaign and siege of northern parts of Gaza, surrounding hospitals and refugee shelters, and ordering residents to head south, medics and residents said.
“The humanitarian situation is really difficult. We look at northern Gaza, where we do see ethnic cleansing taking place, and that has got to stop,” Jordan’s Safadi told Blinken in his remarks before their bilateral meeting. Nothing justifies the siege of hospitals, he said.
Israeli forces began the latest operation in northern Gaza about three weeks ago with the declared aim of preventing Hamas fighters from regrouping. The operation has intensified since Sinwar’s death even as Western powers, primarily the United States call for an end to the war.
On Wednesday, Blinken said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had told him it was not Israel’s policy to use siege tactics against Hamas in northern Gaza.
“We reject any effort to create a siege, to starve people, to hive off northern Gaza from the rest of Gaza. We’ve been very clear about that,” Blinken said. “But again, from the words of the prime minister directly to me, that is not Israel’s policy.”
(Reporting by Humeyra PamukAdditional reporting by Catarina Demony and William JamesEditing by Peter Graff and Gareth Jones)
