According to the US State Department, Blinken briefed Gallant on ongoing diplomatic efforts to strengthen security, governance, and reconstruction in Gaza after the war.
The two sides discussed continuing efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza to ensure the release of all hostages.
The US State Department indicated that Blinken stressed the importance of avoiding escalation and reaching a diplomatic solution that allows Israeli and Lebanese families to return to their homes.
Gallant met with CIA Director Bill Burns, the main American official in negotiations to release the hostages, and then held talks with Blinken in a meeting that lasted about two hours.
“I would like to stress that Israel’s primary obligation is to return the hostages, without exception, to their families and homes,” Gallant said before beginning his meetings, adding: “We will continue to make every effort to return them.”
Gallant is also scheduled to meet in Washington with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, senior White House official Brett McGurk, and Amos Hochstein, who is focusing his efforts on trying to contain the escalation with Lebanon.
Hamas militants took 251 hostages in an attack on Israel on October 7, 116 of whom are still in Gaza, including 42 who the Israeli army says were killed.
The number of deaths on the Israeli side during the Hamas attack reached 1,195, most of them civilians, according to an Agence France-Presse tally based on official Israeli figures.
Israel responded to the Hamas attack with a violent campaign of bombing, raids and ground attacks that led to the deaths of at least 37,626 people, most of them civilians, in Gaza, according to the Ministry of Health in the Strip.
#Blinken #stresses #Gallant #importance #diplomatic #solution #tension #Lebanons #borders