US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met on Thursday in Washington with Israel’s National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer.
In a readout following the meeting, the State Department said Blinken “reiterated the United States’ ironclad commitment to Israel’s security.”
The Secretary of State “discussed ongoing efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and secure the release of all hostages,” the statement said.
He also “emphasized the need to take additional steps to surge humanitarian aid into Gaza and plan for post-conflict governance, security, and reconstruction.”
In addition, the statement said, Blinken “underscored the importance of avoiding further escalation in Lebanon and reaching a diplomatic resolution that allows Israeli and Lebanese families to return to their homes.”
Hanegbi and Dermer were initially scheduled to attend a high-level meeting while in Washington, but the White House cancelled that meeting in the wake of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s video in which he expressed astonishment at moves from the Biden administration to hold up munitions shipments to Israel during the war against Hamas.
While Biden administration officials said that the high-level meeting was never fully finalized on the schedule, other sources inside the White House said there was frustration over Netanyahu’s video and it did affect the decision not to hold the meeting.
Senior US administration officials told ABC News on Wednesday that Hanegbi and Dermer were traveling from Israel to Washington to meet with National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.