Blinken in Israel, as US Aims to Relaunch Peacekeeping Talks in Gaza

He is expected to meet with key officials, as the US aims to resume ceasefire efforts following the assassination of Hamas' top leader, Yahya Sinwar.

Blinken arrived in Israel several hours after Hezbollah's militant group and political party controlling most of Lebanon released a hail of rockets in central Israel on Tuesday.

Hezbollah has been declared a terrorist organisation by the United States. Meanwhile, the European Union has only the group's military arm on a black list, but not the political party. Hezbollah's party has seats in the Lebanese Parliament.

The US, Egypt and Qatar for months have been mediating talks between Israel and Hamas, trying to reach an agreement so that Hamas will free the hostages in exchange for the end of the war and reach a lasting ceasefire in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners.

Both Israel and Hamas accused each other of setting unacceptable conditions during the summer, and talks were interrupted in August.

The US is also trying to mediate a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah, but these efforts failed when tensions rose last month, and Israel carried out a series of attacks, killing the group's leader, Hassan Nasrah, and other top commanders.

Israel is currently conducting a major operation north of Gaza. Israel is also carrying out a series of attacks throughout Lebanon, targeting Hezbollah.

The war in Gaza began after Hamas killed about 1,200 people and kidnapped another 250 during the October 7th attack. Since then, more than 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza as a result of the Israeli offensive.

Since the war in Gaza, Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged fire at the border. In early October, however, the situation escalated, and Israel announced the launch of an earthly operation south of Lebanon against Hezbollah. /Radio Europe Free