In a statement following the call, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said that Blinken made clear to Gallant “that the US will stand with Israel against any threats by Iran and its proxies.”
“Secretary Blinken and Minister Gallant also discussed ongoing efforts to secure the release of all hostages through an agreement for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza,” said the statement.
“Secretary Blinken welcomed Israel's recent announcements of urgent steps to facilitate the entry of humanitarian assistance into Gaza and to improve humanitarian deconfliction and coordination, reiterating that incidents such as the strike on World Central Kitchen workers must never reoccur,” Miller added.
Blinken also “emphasized that the United States expects Israel to quickly implement its commitments on humanitarian assistance and deconfliction and that those commitments must be sustained over time.”
The conversation between the two took place amid speculations that Iran is planning to attack Israel in response to an attack in Syria last week that killed a top Iranian general.
Axios reported on Wednesday that the commander of the US military central command (CENTCOM), Gen. Erik Kurilla, will visit Israel on Thursday to coordinate around a possible attack on Israel by Iran and its proxies.
Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on Wednesday that Israel made a mistake by attacking the Iranian consulate in Damascus and killing the general.
"Israel must be punished and they will pay for their mistakes," he said.
CBS News reported last week that the US has picked up intelligence on what an Iranian retaliatory strike might look like.
According to the report, the American intelligence indicates that Iran is planning a retaliatory attack that would include a swarm of Shaheed loitering drones and cruise missiles.
Another report in The New York Times cited two Iranian officials who said that Iran had placed all its armed forces on full high alert and a decision had been made that Iran must respond directly to the strike attributed to Israel in Damascus, in order to create deterrence.
