US warns Israel against a long campaign in Lebanon amid hopes of restarting Gaza talks

The United States does not want a protracted Israeli campaign in Lebanon, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday, a month into Israel’s military onslaught against the Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah.

Blinken also said he hoped Iran was getting a clear message that any further attacks on Israel risked its own interests, with the region awaiting the retaliation Israel has vowed for an Iranian missile barrage on Oct. 1.

US and Israeli negotiators will gather in Doha to prepare the way for renewed talks on a Gaza ceasefire deal which would also entail the release of hostages in the Palestinian enclave, Qatar and Washington said.

Israel said the head of its Mossad intelligence agency would travel to Doha on Sunday to try to restart the talks. Mossad head David Barnea will meet CIA director William Burns and Qatar’s prime minister.

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“The parties will discuss the various options for starting negotiations for the release of the hostages from Hamas captivity, against the backdrop of the latest developments,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said.

Blinken, speaking after talks with Qatar’s prime minister, said it had not yet been determined whether Hamas was prepared to engage in new negotiations, but urged the group to do so.

Blinken has been on his first trip to the region since Israel killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, a mastermind of the group’s Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel that triggered conflict across the Middle East. Washington, Israel’s close ally, has expressed hope his death can provide an impetus for an end to the fighting.

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Israel unleashed its Lebanon offensive with the declared aim of securing the return home of tens of thousands of people evacuated from homes in northern Israel during a year of cross-border hostilities with Hezbollah.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Firstpost staff.)