US Foreign Minister Blinken Returns To The Middle East To Find Ways To End Gaza's Conflict And Relieve The Situation In Lebanon

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. (Twitter/@SecBlinken)

JAKARTA - United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken for the umpteenth time has returned to the Middle East to launch another push to realize the ceasefire, seeking to revive negotiations to end Gaza's war and defuse the conflict in Lebanon.

The plan, Foreign Minister Blinken will discuss with leaders in Israel and neighboring Arab countries the importance of ending the war in Gaza, ways to map out post-conflict plans for Palestinian enclaves, and how to achieve diplomatic solutions to the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, the US State Department said in a statement.

Monday's journey is the 11th time Foreign Minister Blinken has been to the region since the latest conflict in Gaza broke out on October 7, 2023, and as Israel intensified its military campaign against Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

Israel carried out several attacks on Beirut's southern suburbs on Monday, including one near the Rafik Hariri University Hospital, the capital's main government hospital. Four people were killed, including a child, and 24 others were injured, the country's health ministry said.

The Israeli military said it was attacking "the Hezbollah terrorist target" near the hospital and the facility was not hit, adding the armed group "has systematically embedded its terrorist assets into civilian residents."

In the last month, Israel, which has killed Hezbollah leaders in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, has yet to show any signs of controlling its land and airstrikes.

The assassination of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar last week after a year-long search was a big win for Israel.

However, Israeli leaders say war must continue until the group is removed as a military and security threat to Israel.

Separately, US envoy Amos Hochstein held talks with Lebanese officials in Beirut on Monday over the terms of a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

Hochstein said it was "not enough" for both sides to commit to UN resolution 1701, which ended the final round of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006 calling for southern Lebanon free from troops or weapons other than belonging to Lebanese countries.

He said neither Hezbollah nor Israel had implemented adequate UN resolutions, and that while the resolution would be the basis for ending the current hostilities, the US sought to determine what else needs to be done to ensure that the resolution was carried out "fairly, accurately and transparently."

"We are working with the Lebanese government, the Lebanese state, and the Israeli government to achieve the formula that ends this conflict forever," he said.

Israel launched ground operations last month after a year of cross-border attacks triggered by Hezbollah rocket fire into Israel to support Hamas in Gaza.