Blinken: Gaza deal would have 'tremendous' effect lowering Israel-Lebanon tensions

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has renewed calls for a diplomatic solution between Israel and Lebanon and said a Gaza ceasefire deal would have a major effect lowering tensions.

"What I've heard from everyone concerned," Blinken told reporters in Doha Wednesday, "is there's a strong preference for a diplomatic solution."

"There's no doubt in my mind that the best way also to empower a diplomatic solution to the north -- in Lebanon -- is a resolution of the conflict in Gaza and getting a ceasefire," he said.

"That will take a tremendous amount of pressure out of the system," Blinken said.

Blinken's remarks came at the end of a regional tour during which he met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has talked tough against Lebanon's Hezbollah.

The Iranian-backed militants on Wednesday fired barrages of rockets on northern Israel after an Israeli strike killed a senior commander.

Blinken said any resolution needed to ensure people can return to their homes in both northern Israel and southern Lebanon.

The U.S. secretary of state was touring the region to push forward a ceasefire proposal between Israel and Hamas laid out by President Joe Biden.

Hamas late Tuesday responded with proposed amendments, which Blinken said the United States would seek to bridge.