The United
States, France and several allies called for an immediate 21-day ceasefire
across the Israel-Lebanon border while also expressing support for a ceasefire
in Gaza following intense discussions at the United Nations on Wednesday.
The
ceasefire would apply to the Israel-Lebanon "Blue Line," the
demarcation line between Lebanon and Israel, and would allow the parties to
negotiate towards a potential diplomatic resolution of the conflict, a senior
Biden administration official said.
"We
call on all parties, including the governments of Israel and Lebanon, to
endorse the temporary ceasefire immediately," according to a joint
statement of the countries released by the White House.
The allies
that signed the joint statement included Australia, United Arab Emirates, Saudi
Arabia and the European Union.
Israel
widened its airstrikes in Lebanon on Wednesday and at least 72 people were
killed, according to a Reuters compilation of Lebanese health ministry
statements. The ministry earlier said at least 223 were wounded.
Israel's
military chief said a ground assault was possible, raising fears the conflict
could spark a wider Middle East war.
Over the
last several months, Washington has been engaging with officials in Israel and
Lebanon to reduce hostilities, the senior White House official said.
"We
have had those discussions for quite some time," the official said, adding
Washington and its allies were aiming to convert those discussions into a
broader agreement during this 21-day ceasefire period.
The official
said Biden had been focused on the possibility of a ceasefire "in almost
every conversation he had with world leaders" at the United
Nations General Assembly this week.
Based on
discussions with Israelis and Lebanese, the U.S. and its allies felt this was
the right time for a call for a ceasefire, the official added.
Israel's
U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon told reporters before a U.N. Security Council
meeting on Wednesday that Israel would welcome a ceasefire and preferred a
diplomatic solution. He then told the Security Council that Iran was the nexus
of violence in the region and peace required dismantling the threat.
Iran's Foreign
Minister Abbas Araqchi told reporters before the council meeting that his
country supported Hezbollah and would not remain indifferent if the conflict in
Lebanon spiraled.
Lebanese
Prime Minister Najib Mikati welcomed the call for a ceasefire, saying the key
to its implementation is whether Israel is committed to enforcing international
resolutions. Asked earlier if a ceasefire could be reached soon, Mikati told
Reuters: "Hopefully, yes."
World
leaders voiced concern that the conflict - running in parallel to
Israel's war in Gaza against
Palestinian Hamas militants also backed by Iran - was escalating rapidly as the
death toll rose in Lebanon and thousands fled their homes.
Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was due to arrive in New York on Thursday and
address the U.N. General Assembly on Friday.
LEBANON
CONFLICT PUTS PRESSURE ON BIDEN, HARRIS
The U.S.
administration has for nearly a year sought unsuccessfully to secure a
ceasefire in Gaza.
The conflict
has been costly politically for U.S. President Joe Biden and by extension Vice
President Kamala Harris' presidential campaign with the violence in Lebanon
increasing pressure on his administration to find a diplomatic solution.
Earlier on Wednesday
Israel shot down a missile that the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement said it
had aimed at the headquarters of the Mossad intelligence agency near Israel's
biggest city, Tel Aviv.
Israeli
officials said a heavy missile had headed towards civilian areas in Tel Aviv,
not the Mossad HQ, before being shot down.
"You
hear the jets overhead; we have been striking all day," General Herzi
Halevi told Israeli troops on the border with Lebanon, according to a military
statement.
"This
is both to prepare the ground for your possible entry and to continue degrading
Hezbollah." A Pentagon spokesperson said an Israeli ground incursion did
not appear imminent.
As many as
half a million people may have been displaced in Lebanon, its foreign minister
said. In Beirut, thousands of people displaced from southern Lebanon were
sheltering in schools and other buildings.
ISRAELI
AIRSTRIKES TARGET HEZBOLLAH LEADERS
Israeli
airstrikes this week have targeted Hezbollah leaders and hit hundreds of sites
deep inside Lebanon, where hundreds of thousands have fled the border region,
while the group has fired barrages of rockets into Israel.
Mourners
thronged a funeral on Wednesday in Beirut's suburbs for two senior Hezbollah
commanders killed in Israeli strikes the day before. Fighters in fatigues
carried the flag-covered coffins as a band played. The crowd chanted Hezbollah
slogans and some wept.
Israel said
its warplanes were hitting south Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley, a Hezbollah
stronghold further north, and that it was calling up two more reserve brigades
for operations on Israel's northern border.
In a video
message that made no comment on diplomatic efforts to secure a ceasefire,
Netanyahu said Hezbollah was being hit harder than it could ever have imagined.
Israel has
made a priority of securing its northern border and allowing the return there
of some 70,000 residents displaced by near-daily exchanges of fire since war
broke out in October between Israel and Hamas in Gaza on Israel's southern
border.
Lebanese
hospitals have filled with the wounded since Monday, when Israeli bombing
killed more than 550 people in Lebanon's deadliest day since its civil war
ended in 1990.