US Foreign Minister Blinken Calls Israel And Lebanon Achieve Progress To Implement UN Resolution
JAKARTA - United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday Israel and Lebanon were moving towards understanding what was needed to implement the UN resolution that had long been violated which would be the basis for ending the current conflict.
The United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution of 1701 in 2006 with the aim of maintaining peace on the border between Lebanon and Israel.
"It is important to ensure we have clarity, both from Lebanon and from Israel, about what is needed based on 1701 to get effective implementations," Foreign Minister Blinken told a news conference.
"I can tell you based on my recent trip to the region, the work that is currently underway, we have made good progress in that understanding," he said.
"Although good progress has been made, there is still a lot of work to be done," explained Foreign Minister Blinken.
Israel and the Lebanese armed group, Hezbollah, have been fighting over the past year along with Israel's war in Gaza, after Hezbollah attacked Israeli targets as a form of solidarity with its ally, Hamas, in Gaza.
Conflicts in Lebanon have increased dramatically over the past five weeks, with most of the 2,800 deaths reported by the Lebanese health ministry over the past 12 months occurring during that period.
On Wednesday, the Lebanese prime minister expressed his hope of a ceasefire with Israel could be announced in the next few days, with Israeli public broadcasting agencies publishing what he called a draft agreement that provided an initial 60-day ceasefire.
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Yesterday, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, speaking at a news conference with Foreign Minister Blinken and their South Korean counterparts, said he hoped the US would soon see a transition in Lebanon, but would not explain further.
"We hope to see changes in Lebanon in the near future. I think there is an opportunity for that to happen," he said, adding the US would continue to press to ensure it happened sooner than before.