US to send top diplomats to Middle East as regional tensions spread

Al Jazeera :

The United States is to engage in a renewed diplomatic push to calm tensions in the Middle East as the region teeters on the brink of a regional conflagration following a suspected Israeli strike on a Hamas leader in Lebanon, twin bombings in Iran and no end in sight to Israel’s war on Gaza.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is scheduled to engage in some shuttle diplomacy while on a whistlestop tour of several countries, with a visit to Israel planned for next week.
Ahead of his visit, special envoy Amos Hochstein, an experienced hand who has helped broker maritime talks between Israel and Lebanon in the past, is expected to lay the groundwork.
Blinken’s trip, the fourth since Israel’s war on Gaza began on October 7, comes as interlinked conflicts in the region reach boiling point.
In recent days, Israel has ramped up its attacks on Gaza, the occupied West Bank, Syria, and on Hezbollah and Hamas in Lebanon, and is suspected of killing top Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri in Beirut on Tuesday.
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi rebels have been disrupting global commerce, targeting vessels linked to Israel in the Red Sea in support of Hamas. Leading a multination maritime coalition, Washington has issued what appeared to be a final warning to the Houthis. Over the weekend, US-led multinational forces sank three rebel ships and killed a number of rebels, leading Iran to deploy a warship to the region.
On Wednesday, Iran was hit by twin explosions that killed more than 80 people commemorating the death of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a US drone strike four years ago. Esmail Qaani, commander of Iran’s Quds Force, blamed the US and Israel for the attack. US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller rebutted the claims, calling suggestions of US involvement “ridiculous” and adding that he had “no reason to believe that Israel was involved”.