TEHRAN- Israel's brutal strikes in Gaza and Lebanon continue unabated against the backdrop of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's meeting with the regime’s leaders during his latest regional tour.

Blinken held talks with Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Tel Aviv and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem (al-Quds) on Tuesday with the purported aim of advancing efforts for a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon. 

The top American diplomat urged Netanyahu to revive ceasefire talks to end the war in Gaza. 

According to State Department spokesman Matthew Miller, Blinken also “emphasized the need for Israel to take additional steps to increase and sustain the flow of humanitarian assistance into Gaza and ensure that assistance reaches civilians throughout Gaza.” 

Israel launched war on Gaza on October 7, 2023. It has so far killed about 42,800 Palestinians and devastated much of the territory. 

Ethnic cleansing in the making 

Israel also launched an offensive in northern Gaza nearly three weeks ago ordering people to evacuate areas such as Beit Lahiya and Jabalia. The regime’s army has killed nearly 800 people in northern Gaza during its offensive and prevented essentials such as food from reaching there.  Israel stands accused of starving Palestinians and carrying out an ethnic cleansing campaign in the north of the enclave.  

B’Tselem says Israel is committing "ethnic cleansing" in northern Gaza.An Israeli human rights group has said Israel is taking advantage of the world's diverted attention to commit "ethnic cleansing" in northern Gaza.

B’Tselem said the Netanyahu regime intends to forcibly displace residents of northern Gaza, perpetrating some of the “gravest crimes” under the laws of war.

It demanded that nations and international organizations take "immediate, decisive" action.
 

Hitting hospitals 

On Wednesday, more Palestinians lost their lives in Israeli attacks.  The regime’s heavy artillery fire hit a school housing displaced Palestinians in Beit Lahiya. 

An Israeli air raid also hit near the Kamal Adwan Hospital. 

An orthopedic surgeon from Doctors Without Borders (MSF) described the situation at the hospital as "disastrous".

“There is death in all types and forms in Kamal Adwan hospital and north Gaza. The bombardment does not stop. The artillery does not stop. The planes do not stop. There is heavy shelling, and the hospital is targeted too. It just looks like a movie; it does not seem real," Dr. Mohammed Obeid said. 

The physician added that the hospital is overwhelmed, and has no medical or surgical equipment to treat the injured.

He said there are currently 30 people dead inside the hospital, and around 130 injured patients who require urgent care.

Aggression on Lebanon

In his meeting with Netanyahu, Blinken also discussed ways of implementing a 2006 UN resolution in an attempt to “restore security and calm” along the Israel-Lebanon border.

In addition to its war of genocide in Gaza, Israel has also killed about 2,500 people in Lebanon since October last year under the pretext of hitting Hezbollah targets. 

Israel further intensified attacks on Lebanon following Blinken’s visit to Tel Aviv and al-Quds in line with its massive bombing campaign against the Mediterranean country that began a month ago. 

Israel bombed Tyre, Lebanon’s fifth-largest city, on Wednesday. The city is located on the Mediterranean coast of southern Lebanon and is also one of the region’s oldest and historically most significant cities.

Tyre is also known for its Roman ruins, including a hippodrome and triumphal arches, which have earned UNESCO World Heritage status, according to Al Jazeera. 

War of extermination 

The UN special rapporteur on the right to adequate housing has said Israel’s destruction of villages in southern Lebanon indicates that the regime’s objective “is not military, but extermination and annexation”.

“Israel doesn’t just wage war – in Gaza and now in Lebanon – but a scorched earth campaign that levels all houses, mosques, schools and signs of habitation,” Balakrishnan Rajagopal said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. 

Israel’s relentless strikes against Lebanon and Gaza following Blinken’s discussions with Netanyahu clearly illustrate that his call for a ceasefire is just a distraction from growing global anger at the regime’s carnage.

Israel has massacred people in Lebanon and Gaza. But Western officials such as Blinken only pay lip service in a desperate attempt to put a halt to the Netanyahu’s regime’s international isolation. 

As Israel persists in its brutal raids in Gaza, resistance groups put up resistance on the battlefield. 

Hezbollah also continues to retaliate Israel’s fatal strikes. 

Early on Tuesday, Hezbollah said it had launched volleys of rockets at two Israeli military bases near Tel Aviv as well as a naval base in Haifa. The resistance movement fired medium-range missiles towards Tel Aviv, temporarily shutting down Ben Gurion Airport. 

Over the past decades, Israel has failed to bring regional resistance groups to their knees through military action. The regime’s warmongering and military adventurism could only push the region into an abyss. The US, as Israel’s main supporter, will undoubtedly be responsible for such a dangerous escalation.