New York.– President Joe Biden said Wednesday that fighting between Israel and Hezbollah threatens to escalate into an “all-out war,” as his top diplomat and other advisers lobby behind the scenes for a temporary cease-fire to ease a growing conflict that has left more than 600 people dead in Lebanon in recent days.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. government is “engaged deeply with a range of partners to reduce tensions in Lebanon and work toward a ceasefire agreement that would have many benefits for all involved.”
Blinken and other Biden advisers have spent the past three days at the United Nations General Assembly in New York and lobbying there, pressing other countries to support the plan, according to the U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic discussions.
But they said details of the proposal had not yet been finalized. The Biden administration is making its moves as hostilities escalate between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, killing hundreds, driving tens of thousands of people from their homes in northern Israel and southern Lebanon and rekindling fears of a wider Middle East war.
An Israeli official said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has given the green light to a possible deal, but only if it includes the return of Israeli civilians to their homes. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks are being conducted behind the scenes.
Earlier, Biden warned on ABC’s “The View” that “an all-out war is possible” between Israel and Hezbollah, but he believes there is also an opportunity to “reach an agreement that could radically change the entire region.”
Biden hinted that getting Israel and Hezbollah to agree to a ceasefire could help bring about an end to hostilities between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza. That war is approaching its first anniversary on Oct. 7: Nearly a year ago, Hamas, another Iranian-backed militant group, invaded southern Israel. That conflict has killed thousands of people, most of them Palestinians in Gaza.
“It is possible and I am using all the energy I have with my team (…) to achieve it,” he said. “There is a desire to see a change in the region.”
The U.S. government also stepped up the pressure with additional sanctions Wednesday targeting more than a dozen ships and other entities it says were involved in illicit shipments of Iranian oil for the financial benefit of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and Hezbollah.
Meanwhile, Israel’s army chief said Wednesday that the military is preparing for a possible ground operation in Lebanon, as Hezbollah launched dozens of projectiles at Israel, including a missile aimed at Tel Aviv that marked the militant group’s deepest attack yet inside Israeli territory.
Blinken has urged Israel and Hezbollah to step back from escalating their conflict, warning that all-out war would be disastrous for the region and that escalating the conflict is not the way to get people to return to their homes along the Israel-Lebanon border.
“It would be through a diplomatic agreement where forces are withdrawn from the border, a safe environment is created and people return to their homes,” Blinken told NBC News. “That’s what we’re aiming for because while there’s a very legitimate problem here, we don’t believe that war is the solution.”
France has called a special UN Security Council meeting on Lebanon for later on Wednesday, at which the US proposal could be discussed.
“What we are focused on now — including with many partners here in New York at the U.N. General Assembly, the Arab world, the Europeans and others — is a plan to de-escalate,” Blinken said.
“If we were to have an all-out war — which we don’t want and which we’re trying to avoid — that wouldn’t really solve the problem,” Blinken said.
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