Looking to capitalize on the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met on Tuesday to discuss a path forward on a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza, as well as the humanitarian situation in the Strip’s north and the possibility of joining forces against Iran.

According to US State Department Spokesman Matthew Miller, Blinken “underscored the need to capitalize on Israel’s successful action to bring Yahya Sinwar to justice by securing the release of all hostages and ending the conflict in Gaza.”

The Israeli readout expressed a similar sentiment on this matter, saying that Netanyahu emphasized in the two-and-a-half-hour meeting that Sinwar’s death “may have a positive effect on the return of the abductees, the achievement of all the goals of the war.”

The US has repeatedly described Sinwar as the major obstacle to an agreement, and Israeli officials last week told The Times of Israel that he had rejected out of hand any attempt to make progress on a potential deal.

No major talks have been scheduled in the days since Sinwar’s death, though Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar was in Cairo yesterday to discuss new ideas for a deal.

Israeli officials are exploring both a limited deal that would see several hostages freed for a short ceasefire, and a comprehensive deal that would end the wars in Lebanon and in Gaza while freeing all hostages.

The US, Egypt and Qatar have brokered months of indirect talks between Israel and Hamas, trying to strike a deal in which the terror group would release dozens of hostages in return for a lasting ceasefire and the release of Palestinian security prisoners.

Netanyahu’s office called the meeting “friendly and productive.”

The premier and the secretary also discussed plans for the postwar phase in Gaza, a topic that Netanyahu has been wary of expounding upon publicly. However, the Israeli readout of the meeting did say that Netanyahu stressed that Sinwar’s death could also have a positive impact on planning for “the day after the war.”

Israel is quietly exploring ways to replace Hamas’s civil rule in Gaza, Israeli officials told The Times of Israel, including the use of foreign private security companies to distribute humanitarian aid.

According to Miller, Blinken spoke about the “importance of charting a new path forward in the post-conflict period that allows Palestinians to rebuild their lives and provides governance, security and reconstruction for Gaza.”

He also “emphasized the need for Israel to take additional steps to increase and sustain the flow of humanitarian assistance into Gaza and ensure that assistance reaches civilians throughout Gaza.”

A US official briefing reporters on condition of anonymity after the meeting said that in the meeting, Netanyahu had recognized the “seriousness” of US warnings to increase aid to Palestinians in Gaza.

“They recognize the seriousness with which we have expressed our concern about the current situation, and are committed to responding to it and acting upon requests,” said the official.

Blinken also discussed with Netanyahu the mechanisms to be put in place, including “transitional structures” needed for postwar governance in Gaza, the US official said.

No aid was allowed into northern Gaza by Israel for a full two-week period recently, leading aid groups and governments to sound alarm over the dangerous conditions in northern Gaza, where several hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are believed to still reside. US President Joe Biden’s administration also issued a letter warning that Israel’s continued receipt of offensive US weapons was at risk if Jerusalem didn’t take massive steps to address the humanitarian crisis by mid-November.

The halt on aid led to reports that Israel was implementing the so-called “General’s Plan” to lay siege to northern Gaza. The IDF has denied this and said Tuesday that it had allowed 237 trucks into Gaza over the past nine days following a directive from the political echelon. However, Netanyahu has yet to renounce that plan, and a former deputy chief of the National Security Council accused the security cabinet of having secretly approved the controversial proposal, which he called a “war crime.”

Israeli leaders told Blinken in Tuesday’s meetings that it is not the country’s policy to isolate northern Gaza and that they have not been trying to implement the General’s Plan.

“We said, okay, then you should go to greater lengths to say that publicly,” the US official told reporters.

Blinken was on his 11th trip to the region since the Hamas attacks on October 7 of last year. His visit, which includes stops in a number of allied Arab countries, comes two weeks ahead of a closely contested presidential election in the US.

The two men also discussed Israel’s expanding operation in Lebanon, as ground forces continued to uproot Hezbollah infrastructure along the border, while the Israeli Air Force conducted airstrikes in southern Lebanon and in Beirut.

Miller said they went over “ongoing efforts to reach a diplomatic resolution along the Blue Line that includes full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and allows civilians on both sides of the border to return to their homes.” The Blue Line runs along the Israel-Lebanon border, and the largely unimplemented 2006 resolution stipulated that Hezbollah cannot have any armed presence within some 30 kilometers of it.

Netanyahu stressed the need for a “security and political change” along Israel’s northern border, said the Prime Minister’s Office.

On the broader Iranian threat, Netanyahu raised “the need for both countries to join forces against” Tehran and thanked Blinken for the support of the US “in the fight against Iran’s axis of evil and terrorism,” the Israeli readout said.

The readout noted that Blinken expressed his “shock” over the “Iranian attempt through Hezbollah to assassinate the prime minister of Israel” in a drone strike on Netanyahu’s Caesarea home over the weekend, adding that this was a very serious and unprecedented attack. Netanyahu and his wife weren’t home at the time of the attack.

Netanyahu thanked Blinken for his stance and asserted that the drone strike cannot be ignored.

Blinken also met with other top officials, including President Isaac Herzog and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

According to his office, Gallant told Blinken that Israel “will continue to systematically attack all of Hezbollah’s units” even after the ground operation ends, until residents of northern Israel can return to their homes and Hezbollah forces retreat from southern Lebanon.

He also insisted that it is crucial that the US stand with Israel after the Jewish state strikes Iran in retaliation for an October 1 attack in which Tehran launched some 200 ballistic missiles at the Jewish state.

“The US’s joint stand with Israel after our attack in Iran will strengthen regional deterrence and weaken the axis of evil,” said Gallant, according to his office.

An official on Blinken’s plane said he would discourage any move by Israel against Iran that could massively escalate regional conflict.

Blinken was set to travel to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday for talks on normalization with Israel, a change from previous plans to head to Jordan, a US official told reporters on condition of anonymity, attributing the change to scheduling issues.

The normalization deal is widely seen as dead in the water, as Riyadh is now conditioning it on the establishment of a Palestinian state — a nonstarter for Israel.

Blinken’s tour comes as Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has been traveling the region in recent days to try and build support ahead of Israel’s threatened retaliatory strike. Speaking in Kuwait on Tuesday, he said Gulf Arab countries had assured him they would not allow their territory to be used for any Israeli strike.

“All the neighbors assured us that they will not allow their lands and air to be used against Iran,” Araghchi said, according to the state-run IRNA news agency. “This is an expectation from all friendly and neighboring countries and we consider this a sign of friendship.”

Gulf Arab nations like the UAE and Qatar host major US military installations, and there are concerns that an all-out regional war could draw them in. Iran has repeatedly vowed to respond to any Israeli strike.

Blinken landed just hours after Hezbollah launched a barrage of rockets into central Israel, setting off air raid sirens in the country’s most populated areas and its international airport, but causing no apparent damage or injuries.

The Israeli military said it intercepted most of the five projectiles, with one landing in an open area.

A total of 65 projectiles were fired from Lebanon into Israel on Tuesday, mostly targeting the country’s north.

In parallel to Blinken’s trip, US special envoy Amos Hochstein was in the Lebanese capital on Monday amid efforts to find a diplomatic solution to the fighting, telling Lebanese officials that the conflict has “escalated out of control.”

After meeting with Lebanon’s parliament speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally, Hochstein said the US was aiming to end the conflict “as soon as possible.”

Agencies contributed to this report.