US president Joe Biden, speaking to world leaders at the United Nations for the final time on Tuesday, said a diplomatic solution between Israel and Lebanon’s Hizbullah was still possible.
Addressing the UN General Assembly in New York, he sought to calm tensions as the nearly year-long war between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas in the besieged Gaza Strip now threatens to engulf Lebanon.
“Full-scale war is not in anyone’s interest, even if situation has escalated, a diplomatic solution is still possible,” he told the 193-member assembly.
Mr Biden called on Israel and Hamas to finalise the terms of a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal put forward by the US, Qatar and Egypt.
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After nearly 12 months of war against the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza on its southern border, Israel is shifting its focus to the northern frontier, where Hizbullah has been firing rockets into Israel in support of Hamas, which is also backed by Iran.
An Israeli air strike on the southern suburbs of Beirut on Tuesday killed a Hizbullah commander who was a leading figure in its rocket division, two security sources in Lebanon said, as fears of a full-fledged war in the Middle East mounted.
The sources identified the commander who was killed as Ibrahim Qubaisi. The attack, in which six people were killed, dealt another blow to the Iran-backed group which has faced a series of setbacks at the hands of Israel over the past week.
The pressure on Hizbullah has increased fears that conflict will expand and destabilise the Middle East.
Israel struck the Hizbullah-controlled area of the Lebanese capital for a second consecutive day after mounting a new wave of air strikes on targets in Lebanon. Hizbullah said it had fired rockets into northern Israel earlier on Tuesday.
The Lebanese health ministry gave an initial toll of six dead and 15 wounded in the Beirut strike, which hit a building in the usually busy Ghobeiry neighbourhood.
The Israeli military carried out air strikes against Hizbullah on Monday which Lebanese authorities said killed more than 500 people in the country’s deadliest day in decades.
The Israeli government has made securing the northern border and returning residents there a war priority, setting the stage for a long conflict, while Hizbullah has said it will not back down until a ceasefire is reached in Gaza.
“The situation requires continued, intense action in all arenas,” military chief of general staff Herzi Halevi said after holding a security assessment, vowing to keep up pressure on Hizbullah.
Lebanese authorities said 558 people had been killed, including 50 children and 94 women, in Israel’s air strikes on Monday. A further 1,835 were wounded, they said, and tens of thousands more have fled for safety.
The casualty tolls and the intensity of the attacks by the most powerful and advanced military in the Middle East have spread panic in Lebanon, which suffered from devastating destruction when Israel and Hizbullah fought in 2006.
Hizbullah last week suffered heavy losses when thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies used by its members exploded in the worst security breach in its history.
The operation was widely attributed to Israel, which has a long history of sophisticated attacks on foreign soil. It has not confirmed or denied responsibility.
Israel’s intelligence and technological prowess has given it a strong edge in both Lebanon and Gaza. It has tracked down and assassinated top Hizbullah commanders and Hamas leaders.
But Hizbullah has proved resilient during decades of hostilities with Israel. The group, founded by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in 1982 to counter an Israeli invasion of Lebanon, is a more formidable enemy than Hamas.
Hizbullah used a new rocket, Fadi 3, in an attack on an Israeli army base, the group announced in a message posted on Telegram on Tuesday. – Reuters