WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has told Israel’s Minister for Defense Yoav Gallant in a phone call that the escalation of tensions in the Middle East was in no one interest while also stressing the need for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the State Department stated.
Reuters reported that there has been an increased risk of escalation into a broader regional conflict following recent killings of Hamas’ leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, Iran and of Hezbollah military leader Fuad Shukr in Beirut drew threats of retaliation against Israel.
As a result, many express fears a widening of Israel’s war in Gaza that had already killed tens of thousands of innocent Gazans and caused a humanitarian crisis.
The US Secretary of State also stressed the “urgent need to reach a truce in the Gaza Strip” that could release captives held in the Gaza and develop the conditions for broader regional stability,” the State Department said.
Gaza health ministry said that Israel’s brutal military assault on Gaza has killed about 40,000 Palestinian people while also displacing about the entire population of 2.3 million, causing a hunger crisis and leading to genocide allegations.
US President Joe Biden laid out a three-phase truce suggestion in an address on May 31. The US and regional mediators have since made attempts arranging the Gaza truce but have consistently run into hindrances.
