U.S. President Joe Biden said he did not believe there
is going to be an "all-out war" in the Middle East, as Israel weighs
options for retaliation after Tehran's largest ever assault on its arch-enemy.
However, Biden said more needed to be done to avoid a
Middle East war, as Israel's military hit Beirut with new air strikes in its
battle against Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.
Asked by reporters in Washington on Thursday how
confident he was that such a war could be averted, Biden said, "How
confident are you it's not going to rain? Look, I don't believe there is going
to be an all-out war. I think we can avoid it.
"But there is a lot to do yet, a lot to do
yet."
While the United States, the European Union, and other
allies have called for an immediate 21-day ceasefire in the Israel-Lebanon
conflict, Biden said the U.S. was discussing with Israel its options for
responding to Tehran's assault, which included Israel striking Iran's oil
facilities.
"We're discussing that," Biden told
reporters.
His comments contributed to a surge in global oil
prices, and rising Middle East tension has made traders worry about potential
supply disruptions.
However, Biden added: "There is nothing going to
happen today." Asked later if he was urging Israel not to attack Iran's
oil installations, Biden said he would not negotiate in public.
On Wednesday, the president said he would not support
any Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear sites.
On Thursday, Israel's ambassador to the United
Nations, Danny Danon, told CNN his country had "a lot of options" for
retaliation and would show Tehran its strength "soon".
A U.S. official said Washington did not believe Israel
had decided yet how to respond to Iran.
Beirut's southern suburb of Dahiye, a stronghold of
the Iran-backed Hezbollah, came under renewed strikes near midnight on Thursday
after Israel ordered people to leave their homes in some areas, residents and
security sources said.
The air raids targeted Hezbollah official Hashem
Safieddine, rumoured successor to its assassinated leader Hassan Nasrallah, in
an underground bunker, Axios reporter Barak Ravid said on X, citing three
Israeli officials.
Safieddine's fate was not clear, he said.
Israel's military declined comment.
Israel said Hezbollah launched about 230 rockets from
Lebanon towards Israel on Thursday.
Hezbollah said it targeted what it called Israel's
"Sakhnin base" for military industries in Haifa Bay on the
Mediterranean coast of northern Israel with a salvo of rockets.
Late on Thursday, Hezbollah said it also targeted
Israel's "Nesher base" in Haifa with a salvo of Fadi 2 rockets.
Item 1 of 27 Smoke rises following an explosion over
Beirut's southern suburbs after a strike, amid the ongoing hostilities between
Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Sin El Fil, Lebanon, October 3, 2024.
REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
G7 CALLS FOR RESTRAINT
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed
Iran will pay for Tuesday's missile attack, and Washington said it would work
with its longtime ally to ensure Iran faced "severe consequences."
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, speaking in Doha,
said on Thursday that Tehran would be ready to respond.
"Any type of military attack, terrorist act or
crossing our red lines will be met with a decisive response by our armed
forces," he said.
Israel, which has been fighting Hamas in the
Palestinian territory of Gaza for almost a year, sent troops into southern
Lebanon on Tuesday after two weeks of intense airstrikes in a worsening
conflict that has drawn in Iran and risks involving the United States.
The Group of Seven nations, which includes the U.S.,
Britain and allies, on Thursday condemned Iran's missile attack on Tuesday and
reaffirmed their commitment to Israel's security.
But the group also called for restraint, a ceasefire
in Gaza and halt to hostilities in Lebanon.
"A dangerous cycle of attacks and retaliation
risks fuelling uncontrollable escalation in the Middle East, which is in no
one's interest," it said in a statement.
Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani also
urged serious ceasefire efforts to stop what he called Israel's aggression.
The chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives
Foreign Affairs Committee urged the U.S. president on Thursday to speed up
weapons shipments to Israel, including 2000-pound (907 kg) bombs held up for
months over human rights concerns.
One 2,000-pound bomb can rip through thick concrete
and metal, creating a wide blast radius.
Representative Michael McCaul said in a letter sent to
Biden and seen by Reuters that such large bombs were operationally necessary as
Hamas and Hezbollah were using deeply buried subterranean bunkers and tunnels.
HEZBOLLAH SAYS IT KILLED 17 ISRAELI TROOPS
Israel says its operations in Lebanon seek to allow
tens of thousands of its citizens to return home after Hezbollah bombardments
during the Gaza war forced them to evacuate from its north.
More than 1.2 million Lebanese have been displaced by
Israeli attacks, and nearly 2,000 people have been killed since the start of
the Israeli attacks on Lebanon over the last year, most of them in the past two
weeks, Lebanese authorities said.
Early on Friay, Lebanon's health ministry said 27
people were killed and 151 wounded over the prior day.
Hezbollah says it has repelled several land operations
by Israeli troops, with measures such as ambushes and direct clashes.
The group said it killed 17 Israeli military personnel
in combat in southern Lebanon on Thursday, citing its field and security
sources. Israeli forces did not comment on the claim.
An Israeli strike killed at least 18 people on
Thursday in the Tulkarm refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian
health ministry said, and Israel said it killed a Hamas official in Tulkarm.