PM Promises Victory; Regional Tensions High, Little Sign Of Escalation

Mourning the loss of 11 Israeli soldiers in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu says that 'Gaza war will be long but will be fought until victory', implying no brief strike against Hamas and withdrawal, but a lengthier incursion into the Gaza strip by Israeli Defence Forces.

• Amid a seemingly Gaza-wide comms outage, there appears to be little sign at present of a widening of the conflict beyond the borders of Gaza. Most notably, Lebanon-based, Iran-backed Hezbollah has so far engaged in little more than sporadic rocket/missile attacks and border skirmishes. As the NYT notes, "Regionally, if Hezbollah opened a second front, it could prompt the United States to come to Israel’s aid."
• Comes as US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is set to visit the region for the third time in quick succession on Friday 3 November. WaPo reports on Blinken's diplomatic efforts so far, "The effort — perhaps the most high-stakes moment in Blinken’s tenure as the top U.S. diplomat — was rare in that U.S. policy evolved on the fly. Blinken began the earlier trip with unreserved support for Israel’s military effort and ended it by pushing the Jewish state to be careful about civilian casualties and to allow aid into Gaza."
• State Dep't spox Matthew Miller also confirmed that Blinken would make "other stops in the region", but did not specify which countries the Secretary of State would be visiting.