Blinken urges diplomatic resolution to Israeli-Hezbollah conflict

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday that reaching a diplomatic resolution between Israel and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon is a matter of urgency.

Blinken made the comments as he met in London with his Jordanian counterpart, Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi. The U.S. diplomat is in Britain meeting with Arab leaders, following a peace-seeking tour of the Middle East earlier this week.

Speaking to reporters ahead of their closed-door meetings, Blinken said he and Safadi were discussing the situation in Gaza, as well as in Lebanon. At the same press conference, Safadi accused Israel of ethnic cleansing in northern Gaza and said it must stop.

Blinken said he also met in London with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who shared a sense of urgency toward bringing the Lebanon fighting to a diplomatic solution that includes a full implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701.

That 2006 agreement, among other elements, created a buffer zone between the Litani River and the Israel-Lebanon border. The agreement was meant to keep Israeli forces out of Lebanon and called for the long-term disarmament of Hezbollah. Both sides have violated the resolution in recent months.

Blinken said in a statement that any diplomatic resolution of the conflict had to allow for civilians on both sides of the border to return to their homes.

Israel launched its major offensive in Lebanon a month ago, saying it was targeting the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group to secure the return home of tens of thousands of Israelis evacuated from the north because of cross-border rocket attacks. Hezbollah said the attacks were mounted in support of Palestinians in Gaza.

On Thursday, speaking in Doha, Blinken announced the U.S. and its regional counterparts will meet in the coming days to once again pursue a cease-fire agreement to end the conflict in the Gaza Strip.

Also on Friday, Lebanon Health Minister Firass Abiad told a news conference that, so far in its Lebanese offensive, Israel has struck 55 hospitals. Abiad said 163 people had been killed and 272 wounded in those attacks.

U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert said the World Health Organization has verified 53 attacks on health care facilities, resulting in 99 deaths and 82 injuries among health care staff.

Eight hospitals across Lebanon have been fully evacuated and seven others partially evacuated because of damage from or proximity to bombardment. It said another 27 attacks have struck ambulances used by first responders. Nearly half of all primary health centers in affected areas have closed.

Earlier Friday, the health ministry and Lebanese media reports said an Israeli airstrike in the southern Lebanon town of Hasbaya struck guesthouses where journalists were staying, killing at least three journalists and wounding several others as they slept.

The pro-Iranian news outlet Al-Mayadeen and the Hezbollah broadcast outlet Al-Manar issued statements confirming that the victims were their employees.

The war in Gaza began with an Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attack on southern Israel, during which the militants killed about 1,200 people and took 250 people as hostages. Hamas is still holding about 100 hostages, with a third of them believed to be dead.

Israel's counteroffensive in the Gaza Strip has killed more than 42,847 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, with Israel saying the death toll includes several thousand Hamas militants.

The United States, United Kingdom, European Union and others have designated Hezbollah and Hamas as terrorist organizations.

VOA U.N. Correspondent Margaret Besheer contributed to this story. Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.