U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Israel that fighting Hezbollah would only make it more difficult to return more than 60,000 displaced Israelis to their homes, as he pushed for a diplomatic solution to the crisis.
The Times of Israel noted:
During his meeting with Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer earlier today on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated the Biden administration’s belief that an Israeli escalation against Hezbollah will only make it more difficult to accomplish the objective of returning evacuated Israelis to their homes along the northern border.
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“A diplomatic settlement will allow civilians on both sides of the border to return to their homes… further escalation of the conflict will only make that objective more difficult,” Blinken told Blinken, according to the US readout.
President Joe Biden is backing a 21-day ceasefire proposal that the administration insists it cleared with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, but which the Netanyahu government denies that it approved. Hezbollah has not commented.
The Biden administration has tried to use diplomacy for nearly a year to resolve the conflict that erupted when Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed terror organization, began shooting projectiles at Israeli cities, totally unprovoked.
At first, Israel retaliated only by firing at the sites from which it was attacked. Then it began targeting Hezbollah leaders and weapons caches throughout southern Lebanon. It is now preparing a ground assault in Lebanon.
Israel’s goal is to push Hezbollah back to the Litani River and to restrict its ability to fire on Israeli civilians. Alternative, it also hopes that continued military pressure will force Hezbollah to agree to stop shooting at Israel.
Hezbollah has been unreceptive to diplomatic efforts, insisting that Israel agree to a ceasefire with Hamas in Gaza, and that Israel abandon a key military post on the Israeli side of the border, which Israel has flatly refused to do.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, approved in 2006, mandates that Hezbollah leave the border with Israel and be disarmed. The United Nations failed to enforce its own resolution as Iran armed Hezbollah for years.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.