Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that Washington and its allies have been working hard to prevent the tensions between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah from escalating into a full-blown war.
"The real best answer is diplomacy, and our coordinated efforts are vital to preventing further escalation," Blinken told senior officials and ministers from the Gulf Cooperation Council meeting in New York City.
Blinken, making the rounds of the network morning shows, stressed that the situation between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah must be contained.
"Israel has a very legitimate problem it has to solve," Blinken said on ABC News' "Good Morning America."
He noted that on Oct. 8, 2023, the day after the Hamas attacks on Israel, Hezbollah started lobbing rockets into the country forcing Israelis in the country's north to flee their homes as well as the Lebanese in that country's southern region.
"We want to see people get back to their homes," Blinken said. "The best way to do that is through a diplomatic agreement that pulls the forces back, creates space and security so that people can get back to their homes, kids can get back to school. That's what we're working on."
Diplomacy has kept a full-scale war from breaking out, and if one happens now, "that wouldn't solve the problem. It wouldn't get people back into their homes," he added.
Blinken's comments came as Israel was unleashing more airstrikes on Lebanon Wednesday and as Hezbollah's militants fired rockets into Israel, marking the heaviest exchanges between the combatants in a year.
Further, Hezbollah targeted Israel's Mossad spy agency headquarters.
Blinken told NBC News' "Today" that "Israel has a real and legitimate problem." but diplomacy, not war, is the solution.
However, the calls for peace have not worked thus far, but the United States is working with "many partners here in New York at the U.N. General Assembly" on a plan to de-escalate the tensions.
The United States does have a longstanding relationship with Israel, but that is also important for avoiding war, said Blinken.
"From our perspective, the best way to do it is diplomatically," he said. "We're engaged with Israel on that. We're engaged with others in the region on that."
Blinken also commented on last week's pager attack, when Hezbollah members had their devices explode while they were holding or wearing them.
"Look, we've got to start with the proposition that Hezbollah is a terrorist organization," he said. "The reality is Israel left southern Lebanon. It had been occupying southern Lebanon for 15 years. It left in 2000. And all of these militia that existed there were supposed to put down their weapons. Hezbollah didn't do it. And then repeatedly in the time after that, it attacked and posed a threat to people living in northern Israel. So it's very legitimate that Israel does something about Hezbollah."
Meanwhile, with the ongoing talks with Hamas, the Palestinians have not been at the table or willing to engage on remaining outstanding issues, said Blinken.
However, he refused to put himself "in the minds of other leaders" when asked if he thinks Hamas and the Middle East are waiting for the results of the upcoming U.S. elections and if the decisions are being made over perceptions of weakness on the part of President Joe Biden.
"Our message, my message to anyone who perceives weakness, is President Biden is here 'til Jan. 20. He's going to use every single day to advance the national interest," said Blinken.
Reuters contributed to this report.