Amid fears Iran-backed Hezbollah might attack Israel from the north, Antony Blinken urges China to use its influence in the Middle East

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called his Chinese counterpart and urged Beijing to use its influence in the Middle East to prevent other state or non-state actors from attacking Israel and widening its war with Hamas, the State Department said.

Blinken spoke with Foreign Affairs Minister Wang Yi before departing from Riyadh, where the top US diplomat was attempting to shore up support for Israel among Arab nations, said State Department spokesman Matthew Miller.

President Joe Biden’s envoy is on a whirlwind diplomatic tour of the Middle East, having made stops in Israel, Qatar, Jordan and Bahrain as well as Saudi Arabia over the past few days.