US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Israel to avoid further escalation in Lebanon during a meeting with the Israeli defense minister on Monday as they discussed efforts to reach a deal to free hostages held in Gaza.
Defence Minister Yoav Galant was on a visit to Washington to reaffirm the value of relations with Israel’s top ally, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly criticised the US for delaying arms supplies.
In a two-hour meeting with Gallant at the State Department, Blinken discussed indirect diplomacy toward a deal between Israel and Hamas that would “ensure the release of all hostages and alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.
Blinken also “underscored the importance of preventing further escalation of the conflict and reaching a diplomatic solution that allows both Israeli and Lebanese families to return to their homes,” Miller said in a statement.
Tensions are rising amid increased gunfire between Israel and Lebanon’s Iran-backed militant movement Hezbollah.
Netanyahu has said Israeli forces are ending the most intense part of the Gaza war and will redeploy to the northern border, though he described the move as defensive.
Gallant also met CIA chief Bill Burns, who was the US point man in negotiations to release the hostages from Hamas.
“I would like to emphasize that Israel’s primary commitment is to return hostages, without exception, to their families and homes,” Galant said before beginning his meeting.
“We will continue to do everything possible to bring them back home,” he said.
The minister made no further comment as he left the meeting with Blinken, as a few dozen protesters outside the State Department chanted slogans calling him a “war criminal.”
– Arms shipment controversy –
President Joe Biden presented a plan for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages on May 31.
Hamas, which started the conflict by attacking Israel on October 7, has returned to its demands, and the United States hopes to bridge the gap.
Netanyahu, who faced massive protests for accepting the deal, has angered the Biden administration in recent days by accusing Washington of cutting off supplies of arms and ammunition.
Gallant took a different tack, saying: “The alliance between Israel and the United States, which has been led by the United States for many, many years, is extremely important.”
“Apart from Israel’s own military, our relationship with the United States is the most important element for our future from a security perspective,” he said.
Biden, who has faced criticism from some of his own circles over his support for Israel, held back a shipment of heavy 2,000-pound bombs.
Netanyahu – who has close ties to Biden’s rivals in the Republican Party – said at a cabinet meeting on Sunday that there had been a “dramatic drop” in US arms supplies from about four months ago.
Asked about his latest comment, Miller told reporters, “I don’t understand what the point of that comment was.”
“We have stopped a shipment of high-weight weapons. That shipment is still on hold,” Miller told reporters.
“There are other weapons that we will continue to provide to Israel, as we have for years, because we are committed to Israel’s security. That hasn’t changed,” Miller said.
Miller said the United States would also press Israel to work on a long-term arrangement after the fighting ends.
“We don’t want to see in Rafah what we have seen in Gaza City and in Khan Younis, where major combat operations have ended and Hamas is starting to regain control,” he said, referring to two other major cities targeted by Israel during the war.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
