Blinken supports Israel’s ‘legitimate’ fight against Hezbollah, urges diplomatic resolution

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at a news conference during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Vientiane, Laos, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024.- AP

Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday expressed support for Israel’s intensified campaign against Hezbollah, asserting that Israel has “clear and legitimate” reasons for its actions. However, he emphasized that the US actively seeks a diplomatic resolution to the ongoing conflict.

Blinken highlighted Israel’s “clear and very legitimate interest” in facilitating the return of its citizens who had to evacuate their homes in northern Israel due to Hezbollah fire. He also acknowledged the plight of Lebanese citizens who have fled their homes near the border to escape Israeli bombardment, suggesting a shared desire for stability among both Israelis and Lebanese.

“When the horror of October 7 happened, the next day Hezbollah joined in, trying to create another front in the process,” he told a news conference after attending an annual meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Laos.

“We believe that the best way to get there is through a diplomatic understanding, one that we’ve been working on for some time and one that we’re extremely focused on right now,” he said.

With Israel’s sabotage and military operations in Lebanon taking out many of Hezbollah’s senior leaders, some in Washington and elsewhere believe there may be a window for a new push to break the political deadlock in Lebanon to try to ease escalating war.

To that end, Secretary of State Antony Blinken has spoken with his Saudi, Qatari and French counterparts about how a resolution — particularly the election of a new Lebanese president — might reduce tensions in the Middle East by getting Hezbollah to move its forces away from Israel’s northern border to the line set out in a U.N. Security Council resolution ending the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.

“It’s clear that the people of Lebanon have an interest, a strong interest, in the state asserting itself and taking responsibility for the country and its future,” Blinken told reporters Friday in Laos. “The presidency has been vacant for two years now, and for the Lebanese people, having a head of state would be very important.”

He said Lebanon’s future is for its people to decide and no one else, including “any outside actor, whether it’s the United States, Israel, or any of the many actors in the region.”

The U.S. and others have been pressing for years for an end to the political deadlock in Lebanon to no avail. The country’s sectarian power-sharing system has always been prone to stalemate. The U.S. points the blame for the two-year presidential vacuum at resistance to compromise by Iran-backed Hezbollah, which is considered a legitimate political party in Lebanon and has been part of its government for nearly two decades despite being designated a terrorist organization by the U.S., Israel and others.

With inputs from agencies.