channel1la.com
QUESTION: Let’s talk about what’s going on right now in the Middle East – as you well know, a massive bombardment by Israel into the north into Hizballah territory. The Israeli theory here is escalate to de-escalate; in fact, just in essence, hit Hizballah so hard they’re forced to the negotiating table. Put simply, does the U.S. support this escalation strategy by Israel?
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Well first, Israel has a real and legitimate problem, because here’s what happened. After the horrific events of October 7th by Hamas in Israel in the south, Hizballah from Lebanon joined in and started firing rockets into Israel. People who lived in northern Israel had to evacuate their homes. Villages were destroyed. Homes were destroyed. Seventy thousand Israelis were forced from their homes.
And Israel started firing back. You had a tit-for-tat going back and forth. People in southern Lebanon had to leave their homes too. And what everyone wants is to have a secure environment in which people can simply return home, kids can go back to school. That’s what Israel is after.
So the best way to get that is not through war, not through escalation. It would be through a diplomatic agreement that has forces pulled back from the border, create a secure environment, people return home. That’s what we’re driving toward. Because while there’s a very legitimate issue here, we don’t think that war is the solution.