U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed frustration Wednesday at surprise escalations that he said threaten to derail efforts to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. He said the U.S. is still assessing the previous day's deadly pager explosions, linked to Israel, in Lebanon.
Blinken spoke in Egypt, where he traveled for talks on the Gaza cease-fire negotiations and U.S.-Egyptian relations.
The United States and international partners, including Egypt, are working to broker a cease-fire in the nearly year-old war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, and to tamp down tensions as Israeli leaders threaten to step up military action against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
"Time and again" when the U.S. and other international mediators believe themselves to be making progress in a cease-fire deal for Israel's and Hamas's war in Gaza, "we've seen an event that makes the process more difficult, might derail it," Blinken said, speaking in answer to a question about the previous day's explosions in Lebanon.
Explosive attacks using personal pagers used by members of the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon killed at least 12 people Tuesday, including a child. Israel has not publicly spoken on whether it was responsible.
