Washington:
US President Joe Biden called for a ceasefire in Lebanon on Monday, but a US official said the deployment of Israeli troops suggested a ground invasion against Hezbollah fighters could be imminent.
Asked about reports that Israeli ground troops were preparing to enter southern Lebanon, Biden told reporters he was “comfortable with them (Israel) stopping.”
Several senior aides reinforced Biden’s call for a ceasefire, pushing for a diplomatic resolution to the violence that would allow tens of thousands of displaced Israelis and Lebanese to return to their homes along the border.
Washington “will continue to work with our partners in the region and around the world to reach a diplomatic solution,” Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told a State Department conference call.
But a US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Israeli troop positioning monitored by the United States suggested a ground invasion of Lebanon may be imminent.
The official declined to comment further or provide details on the position of Israeli forces.
The US call for de-escalation follows two weeks of Israeli airstrikes and the killing of Hezbollah commanders, including the leader of the Iran-backed group, Sayed Hassan Nasrallah, on Friday.
Israeli officials say they will do whatever it takes to bring back some 70,000 citizens evacuated from northern Israeli communities after Hezbollah launched rocket attacks on October 8 in support of Hamas’s assault on Israel from Gaza the previous day.
Speaking to troops stationed along Israel’s northern border, Defense Minister Yoav Galant hinted at an impending ground invasion.
“We will use whatever means may be necessary – your forces, other forces, from the air, from sea and on land. Good luck,” Gallant said.
The Biden administration fears that Nasrallah’s assassination and further military action by Israel could spark a wider regional conflict.
The US envoy to the UN called for continued diplomacy to end the violence in Lebanon and Gaza.
“We want to find a path to peace so that Palestinians and Israelis have safety, and Lebanese and Israelis living on the northern border also have safety and security,” US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield told reporters.
(Except for the headline, this story was not edited by NDTV staff and was published by a syndicated channel.)
