President Joe Biden called on the IDF not to launch a ground campaign into southern Lebanon to route out Hezbollah as tensions appeared to escalate between the two staunch allies.
“We should have a ceasefire now,” he said. A reporter quizzed him about whether he knew of and was comfortable with Israeli plans to enter Lebanon.
“I am more aware than you might know, and I am comfortable with them stopping,” Biden said.
Earlier in the day, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stressed that “Diplomacy remains the best and only path to achieving greater stability in the Middle East.
Blinken acknowledged that the Israeli assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah last Friday made “the region” and “the world safer.”
“Nasrallah was a brutal terrorist whose many victims included Americans, Israelis, civilians in Lebanon, civilians in Syria, and many others as well.
“During his leadership of Hezbollah, the group terrorized people across the region and prevented Lebanon from fully moving forward as a country,” Blinken said.
Still, he noted, “the United States will continue to work with our partners in the region and around the world to advance a diplomatic resolution that provides real security to Israel to Lebanon” and allows evacuated citizens on both sides of the border to return home. The US is also pushing forward with its efforts for a Gaza ceasefire deal and hostage deal, Blinken said.
His statements fell in line with those issued by the Biden administration in the last days, as they acknowledged the important IDF achievements against Hezbollah while still asking it to prioritize diplomacy.
World calls on Israel to refrain from ground incursion
The security cabinet was slated to meet later Monday, as the IDF weighted a ground operation in southern Lebanon. Netanyahu told his government at its weekly meeting that “we are in fateful days. These are days of historic achievements, but also days of great challenges that are still ahead of us.”
In Beirut, French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Noel Barrot again urged Israel and Hezbollah to access the 21-day temporary lull to hostilities France and the United States proposed last week, adding France will step up its support for the Lebanese army.
“I (…) urge Israel to refrain from any ground incursion and to cease fire. I call on Hezbollah to do the same and to refrain from any action likely to lead to regional destabilization,” Barrot told reporters.
Reuters contributed to this report.
