TEL AVIV, Israel — United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday that "now is the time" to end the conflict in the Gaza Strip, and urged Israel to avoid further escalation with Iran.
Israel is fighting Iran-backed Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, and has pledged to hit back against Tehran's October 1 missile strike.
In Lebanon, state media reported an Israeli drone strike on Tyre after the military warned residents of parts of the southern city to flee ahead of operations targeting Hezbollah.
The warning sparked a new exodus from the once-vibrant city, which is perched on the Mediterranean coast, and Agence France-Presse Television (AFPTV) footage showed a plume of thick black smoke rising from the city after the strike.
"The situation is very bad; we're evacuating people," said Mortada Mhanna, who heads Tyre's disaster management unit.
"You could say that the entire city of Tyre is being evacuated," said Bilal Kashmar, the unit's media officer.
Blinken's visit to the region is his 11th since the Gaza war began and his first since the Israel-Hezbollah violence escalated to an all-out war late last month.
The Gaza war started with Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attacks on southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, an AFP tally of Israeli official figures showed.
The militants also took 251 hostages back into Gaza. Ninety-seven are still being held there, including 34 the Israeli military has said are dead.
Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed 42,718 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory's Health Ministry, which the United Nations considers reliable.
"Since October 7 a year ago, Israel has achieved most of its strategic objectives when it comes to Gaza.... Now is the time to turn those successes into [an] enduring, strategic success," Blinken said as he left Israel, following meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials.
Progress made
On aid to Gaza, Blinken said he saw "progress being made, which is good, but more progress needs to be made and, most critically, it needs to be sustained."
Of Israel's pledge to retaliate for Iran's October 1 missile attack, the US top diplomat said: "It's also very important that Israel respond in ways that do not create greater escalation."
After Israel, Blinken will visit Saudi Arabia, which has put on hold talks toward a normalization agreement with Israel until a Palestinian state is created.
He urged Israel to seize what he described as an "incredible opportunity" to move toward a deal with Riyadh.
Previous US efforts to end the Gaza war and contain the regional fallout have failed, as did a bid spearheaded by President Joe Biden and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron to secure a temporary ceasefire in Lebanon.
In his meeting with Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Tuesday, Blinken urged his ally to seize on the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza to work toward a ceasefire. Sinwar was the architect of the October 7 attacks.
Hailing his killing, Netanyahu said it did not mean the war was over, though he added that it could be the beginning of the end.
Also during the meeting, Blinken "underscored the need to capitalize" on the death of Sinwar, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.
This would be done by "securing the release of all hostages and ending the conflict in Gaza in a way that provides lasting security for Israelis and Palestinians alike," he added.
Netanyahu told Blinken that Sinwar's death "could have a positive impact on the return of the hostages," said a statement from the prime minister's office.
Blinken also pressed for more aid to be allowed into besieged Gaza as concerns rise for tens of thousands of civilians trapped by fighting in the hard-to-reach north.
Hezbollah heir
After nearly a year of war with Hamas in Gaza, Israel shifted its focus to Lebanon in late September, vowing to secure its northern border under fire from Hezbollah.
Israel ramped up its airstrikes on Hezbollah strongholds around the country and sent in ground troops late last month, in a war that has killed at least 1,552 people since September 23, according to an AFP tally of Lebanese Health Ministry figures.
Hezbollah kept up its attacks on Israel on Wednesday, saying it had fired rockets at an Israeli military intelligence base in the suburbs of commercial hub Tel Aviv.
On Tuesday, the Israeli army said it had killed the Hezbollah cleric tipped to succeed the group's slain leader Hassan Nasrallah in an airstrike three weeks ago.
Hezbollah has not issued a statement confirming Hashem Safieddine's death, but a high-level source close to the group had said the militant leader had been out of contact since the strikes.
"We have reached Nasrallah, his replacement and most of Hezbollah's senior leadership," Israeli army chief Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said in a statement.