Blinken back in Israel as deadliest Gaza war grinds on
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00:00 The US's most senior diplomat, Antony Blinken, is in Israel today.
00:04 He's meeting the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the President, Isaac Herzog, as well.
00:09 Now, ahead of those talks, Blinken told journalists he would be discussing the
00:13 way forward with Israeli leaders, including the need to better protect civilian life.
00:19 I will press on the absolute imperative to do more to protect civilians
00:27 and to do more to make sure that humanitarian assistance is getting into the hands of those
00:31 who need it. And we'll talk about how we see the future for the region and for Israel. And I'm
00:38 convinced that there is a future path that can actually bring lasting peace and security for
00:45 Israel, that can ensure that October 7th never happens again, and that can bring the region
00:53 together that can meet the aspirations of the Palestinian people and do it in a way that makes
00:59 this a region focused on the future. Well, listening to those comments by Antony Blinken
01:06 was our Jerusalem correspondent, Iris Mackler. She's with me on the programme live now. Iris,
01:11 we understand that behind closed doors today, Blinken is talking with Israeli leaders
01:18 about the future of Gaza after the war. What can you tell us?
01:22 I can tell you that what I think Antony Blinken is doing here is giving Israel a wind-up call.
01:28 He wants to see, as he said, fewer casualties, more humanitarian aid going in and less fighting.
01:37 Israel is withdrawing troops from the north of the Gaza Strip. Does that then mean that,
01:42 as Washington would like, Gazan civilians can return, those who have some house there? Or,
01:48 you know, what will be the process for getting the civilians back there and rebuilding for them?
01:53 What we've heard from Israeli officials is that they are making the return of Gaza's civilians
01:59 to the north contingent on some kind of release, some kind of deal with the hostages, a hostage
02:05 release deal of some kind. No one will return until Israeli hostages are released. And we do
02:11 know, by the way, that hostage talks are resuming in Cairo and that Israeli officials are going
02:17 there. But if you leave the north of the Gaza Strip aside and you take a step back, as Washington
02:22 is clearly doing because of all the countries that it visited and all the opinions that it's brought
02:28 to this table, what's the plan? What's Israel's plan for the day after this war? If it's not Hamas,
02:35 who does rule in Gaza? Is it going to be the Palestinian Authority, as Washington wants?
02:41 Will there be a cooperation with other Arab nations? They'll have to have a Palestinian
02:46 partner of some kind. Who would that be? And what's been very interesting about this whole
02:51 process, Nadia, is how little Israel has been looking at the day after, both in its discussions
02:57 with Washington and its politicians' discussions with their own public, with the Israeli public.
03:03 I think what I've been reading today from Israeli analysts is that the Israeli Prime
03:07 Minister set these unrealistic goals of the annihilation of Hamas and then the return of
03:13 the hostages, which was later turned into the return of the hostages and the military control
03:19 lost from Hamas. But that hasn't happened yet either. And what they're saying is, you know,
03:24 this kind of interim situation could go on for months. Is that what Israel really wants?
03:29 There's not a discussion of that future here yet. Okay, Iris, so huge questions still remain then
03:36 about the future of Gaza and the people who live there. We also, though, understand today that
03:42 Blinket and Netanyahu are talking about what's happening on Israel's border with Lebanon.
03:47 That's right. Containment is very important to Washington. It has been from the start.
03:52 You have to say, you know, they were the ones who pulled both sides back from an all-out war there.
03:58 But we are seeing an escalation on that border. Just in the past 48 hours, we've seen many attacks,
04:05 drones, anti-tank missiles, rockets coming into Israel from Hezbollah in Lebanon,
04:10 Israeli airstrikes in the north just today. Sorry, when I say the north, the south of Lebanon,
04:15 north of Israel. What just today we've seen yesterday, there was the assassination of a
04:21 Hamas, of a Hezbollah commander there, Wissam Tawil. Today we have heard from Lebanon that more
04:27 people have been assassinated, three people driving in one car. I don't have details yet about who
04:32 they were. But all of this lets you know that this is an escalation that is just one incident away
04:38 from spiraling into a total war, the kind of war they have avoided till now. And I think part of
04:44 what Lincoln will be saying to Israelis here is use this as an opportunity to create something
04:52 new on that border, but do it without a war. Go for a diplomatic result that will give you
04:58 the security you want, but don't do it through a military option. And that's being said, by the
05:05 way, by American officials inside Lebanon to Lebanese leaders as well.