US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said that Secretary Anthony Blinken will discuss the ongoing work on a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip and the release of detainees, during a meeting with Israeli officials.
Miller added to reporters that Blinken will also discuss the situation along the Israeli border with Lebanon today, Thursday (US time), in a meeting with Ron Dermer, Minister of Strategic Affairs, and Tzachi Hanegbi, Israeli National Security Advisor.
The US State Department said that reaching a ceasefire agreement in Gaza would contribute to reducing the escalation on the Lebanese-Israeli border.
She added that Washington has made clear its desire for a diplomatic solution to the current conflict and does not want to see an escalation on the borders of Israel and Lebanon.
In the same context, Miller said that America continues to work with Qatar, Egypt and Israel to reach a ceasefire in Gaza.
On Thursday, the White House considered Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s statements this week regarding the delay in delivering US arms shipments to his country “insulting.”
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters, “Those statements were deeply disappointing and certainly insulting to us, given the amount of support we provide and will continue to provide.”
Last Tuesday, Netanyahu published a video clip in English in which he said that US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken had assured him that the administration of President Joe Biden was working to lift restrictions imposed on the delivery of weapons to Israel, something that Blinken refused to confirm.
Last April, Biden warned Israel that the United States would stop supplying it with weapons if its forces carried out a major operation in Rafah, south of Gaza, which is the last refuge for many people displaced by the war.