Netanyahu warned last week that the army was “prepared for a very intense operation” to “restore security to the north”.
In Doha, Blinken said “the best way” to help end the Hezbollah-Israel violence was “a resolution of the conflict in Gaza and getting a ceasefire”.
“That will take a tremendous amount of pressure out of the system.”
The Gaza war broke out after Hamas’s Oct 7 attack which resulted in the deaths of 1,194 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
The militants also seized 251 hostages. Of these 116 remain in Gaza, although the army says 41 of them are dead.
Israel in response launched a military offensive on Gaza that has left at least 37,202 people dead, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-ruled territory’s health ministry.
