[Jimbuna]

Gaza cease-fire talks set to resume; Iran braces for Israeli retaliation

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati and other Middle East leaders in London on Friday, as U.S. and Israeli negotiators prepared to revive long-suspended talks to reach a cease-fire and hostage deal with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

“We have a sense of real urgency in getting to a diplomatic resolution” to end the conflict in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah, Blinken said Friday. He called for “the full implementation” of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the last major war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006. The two discussed U.S. concern over civilian deaths and support for Lebanon’s armed forces, government institutions and U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.

American and Israeli diplomats are set to convene for talks in Qatar in the coming days. Mossad Director David Barnea will depart Sunday to meet with CIA Director William J. Burns and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, the Israeli prime minister’s office said in a statement.

The upcoming talks represent the latest effort by the United States to forge a cease-fire after the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, whom U.S. officials have described as a key obstacle in the process.

The diplomatic efforts come as Iran is bracing for an Israeli military strike in retaliation for a ballistic missile attack on Israel earlier this month. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told the Biden administration that he is willing to strike military rather than oil or nuclear facilities in Iran.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world...hamas-lebanon/