Blinken in Israel for Cease-Fire Talks 10/22 06:15

   Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel on Tuesday on his 11th 
visit to the region since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. The U.S. hopes 
to revive cease-fire efforts after the killing of top Hamas leader Yahya 
Sinwar, but so far all the warring parties appear to be digging in.

   TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) -- Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel 
on Tuesday on his 11th visit to the region since the outbreak of the 
Israel-Hamas war. The U.S. hopes to revive cease-fire efforts after the killing 
of top Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, but so far all the warring parties appear to 
be digging in.

   Israel is still at war with Hamas more than a year after the militant 
group's Oct. 7 attack, and with Hezbollah in Lebanon, where it launched a 
ground invasion earlier this month. Israel is also expected to strike Iran in 
response to its ballistic missile attack on Oct. 1.

   Blinken landed just hours after Hezbollah launched a barrage of rockets into 
central Israel, setting off air raid sirens in the country's most populated 
areas and its international airport, but causing no apparent damage or injuries.

   The Israeli military said it intercepted most of the five projectiles, with 
one landing in an open area. Another 15 projectiles were fired from Lebanon 
into northern Israel at around the same time, it said.

   In a separate development, the death toll from an Israeli airstrikes late 
Monday that destroyed several buildings facing one of Beirut's main hospitals 
climbed to 13. Lebanon's Health Ministry said 57 others were wounded in the 
strikes, including seven who were in critical condition.

   It said the airstrikes caused significant damage to the Rafik Hariri 
University Hospital, the country's largest public hospital, located on the 
outskirts of southern Beirut.

   The Israeli military said it struck a Hezbollah target, without elaborating, 
and said that it had not targeted the hospital itself.

   Blinken expected to focus on Gaza

   The State Department said ahead of the visit that Blinken would focus on 
ending the war in Gaza, securing the release of hostages held by Hamas and 
alleviating the suffering of Palestinian civilians.

   State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Blinken would underscore the 
need for a dramatic increase in the amount of humanitarian aid reaching Gaza, 
something that Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made clear in a 
letter to Israeli officials last week.

   That letter reminded Israel that the Biden administration could be forced by 
U.S. law to curtail some forms of military aid should the delivery of 
humanitarian aid continue to be hindered.

   Blinken's previous trips have yielded little in the way of ending 
hostilities, but he has managed to increase aid deliveries to Gaza in the past.

   The United States, Egypt and Qatar have brokered months of talks between 
Israel and Hamas, trying to strike a deal in which the militants would release 
dozens of hostages in return for an end to the war, a lasting cease-fire and 
the release of Palestinian prisoners.

   But both Israel and Hamas accused each other of making new and unacceptable 
demands over the summer, and the talks ground to a halt in August. Hamas says 
its demands have not changed following the killing of Sinwar.

   US and Iran both step up outreach ahead of expected Israeli strike

   Blinken is expected to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 
and other top officials. Following Israel, he's expected to visit a number of 
Arab countries, likely to include Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United 
Arab Emirates.

   Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has been criss-crossing the region in 
recent days to try and built support ahead of Israel's threatened retaliatory 
strike. Speaking in Kuwait on Tuesday, he said Gulf Arab countries had assured 
him they would not allow their territory to be used for any Israeli strike.

   "All the neighbors assured us that they will not allow their lands and air 
to be used against Iran," Araghchi said, according to the state-run IRNA news 
agency. "This is an expectation from all friendly and neighboring countries and 
we consider this a sign of friendship."

   Gulf Arab nations like the UAE and Qatar host major military installations, 
and there are concerns that an all-out regional war could draw them in. Iran 
has repeatedly vowed to respond to any Israeli strike.

   War rages in Lebanon and northern Gaza

   The U.S. has also tried to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah, 
but those efforts fell apart as tensions spiked last month with a series of 
Israeli strikes that killed the militant group's top leader, Hassan Nasrallah, 
and most of his senior commanders.

   Israel is currently waging another major operation in already-devastated 
northern Gaza, which has killed hundreds of Palestinians over the last two 
weeks, according to local health authorities.

   In Lebanon, Israel has carried out waves of heavy airstrikes across southern 
Beirut and the country's south and east, areas where Hezbollah has a strong 
presence. Hezbollah has fired hundreds of rockets, missiles and drones into 
Israel, including some that have reached the country's populous center.

   Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 
some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking another 250 hostage. Around 100 
of the captives are still held in Gaza, a third of whom are believed to be dead.

   Israel's offensive has killed over 42,000 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded 
tens of thousands, according to local health authorities, who do not say how 
many were combatants but say more than half were women and children. It has 
also caused massive devastation across the territory and displaced around 90% 
of its population of 2.3 million.