DOHA/BEIRUT (Reuters): The United States does not want a protracted Israeli campaign in Lebanon, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said as efforts got underway to hold fresh talks over a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza.
A month into Israel’s military onslaught against the Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah, Blinken said he hoped Iran was getting a clear message that any further attacks on Israel risked its own interests. Israel has vowed retaliation for an Iranian missile barrage on Oct. 1.
Israel’s military chief said an end to the conflict with Hezbollah looked possible but gave few details. Several Israeli strikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs on Thursday evening, Reuters witnesses said.
U.S. and Israeli negotiators will gather in Doha to prepare for renewed talks on a Gaza ceasefire deal which would also entail release of hostages in the Palestinian enclave, Qatar and Washington said.
Israel said its Mossad intelligence agency head David Barnea will travel to Doha on Sunday to try to restart talks, and meet with CIA director William Burns and Qatar’s prime minister.
“The parties will discuss the various options for starting negotiations for the release of the hostages from Hamas captivity, against the backdrop of the latest developments,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said.
An Egyptian security delegation met with a delegation of Hamas leaders in Cairo, part of efforts to resume the Gaza ceasefire negotiations, Egypt’s state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV said.
Hamas senior official Osama Hamdan told Lebanese pro-Iranian TV channel Al Mayadeen there was no change in the group’s position.
“The hostages held by the resistance will only return by stopping the aggression and completely withdrawing,” Hamdan said.
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