Israel and Hezbollah continued to exchange fire on Wednesday (October 23), with Hezbollah even claiming to have used precision-guided missiles for the first time during US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Tel Aviv to promote a ceasefire.
Blinken visited Israel on Wednesday, his first visit to the Middle East since the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, aiming to leverage the opportunity to urge Israel to reach a ceasefire agreement and have Hamas release hostages still held in Gaza.
This marked Blinken’s 11th visit to the Middle East since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas conflict, but as he visited Tel Aviv seeking peace, air raid sirens rang out across the city.
According to Reuters, on Wednesday, Israel attacked the southern suburbs of Beirut, the capital of Lebanon. The Israeli military spokesperson first issued an evacuation warning to residents of the area before launching the attack shortly thereafter.
Hezbollah later issued a statement saying that its attacks on Israel escalated on Wednesday, as they used precision-guided missiles for the first time and launched new drones. However, the organization did not provide further details on this.
The extremist group later claimed to have targeted an Israeli military facility in the outskirts of Tel Aviv.
The Israeli military confirmed that four missiles were fired from Lebanon, with two intercepted, one landing in open space, and another in the outskirts of Tel Aviv. There is currently no indication that the missiles hit any defense facilities around Tel Aviv.
As the clashes between both sides intensified, the Biden administration is making significant efforts to push for a ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah and Hamas before the US presidential election on November 5.
The Biden administration hopes that Sinwar’s death will lead to a peace agreement in the Middle East. Israel is expected to retaliate against Iran’s missile attack on October 1, with Washington hoping to prevent further escalation of the conflict. Blinken stated that Israel’s retaliatory actions should not lead to further escalation of the conflict.
Blinken met with Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and then proceeded to continue diplomatic mediation in Saudi Arabia.