Blinken Tells Israeli Officials of Need to Avoid Further Escalation with Lebanon

File photo: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a joint news conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the State Department in Washington, US, June 18, 2024. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Israeli officials during a meeting on Thursday of the need to avoid further escalation in Lebanon amid the war in Gaza, the State Department said.
Blinken was meeting Israeli national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi and Ron Dermer, Israel's minister for strategic affairs, Reuters reported.
Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group, an ally of the Palestinian group Hamas, has been exchanging strikes with Israel almost daily since the war in Gaza erupted on Oct. 7, with the aim to pull Israeli forces away from the embattled Gaza Strip.
Hezbollah's attacks escalated after Israel expanded its offensive into the southern Gaza city of Rafah in May, and spiked further in June after an Israeli strike killed high-ranking Hezbollah commander Taleb Sami Abdullah, the most senior militant killed so far during the Israel-Hamas war.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Wednesday warned that his party has new weapons and intelligence capabilities that could help it target more critical positions deeper inside Israel in case of an all-out war.
In response, Israel’s military chief, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said that Israel was aware of Hezbollah's capabilities and has solutions for these threats.