By Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden called for a ceasefire in Lebanon on Monday but a U.S. official said Israeli troop deployments suggested a ground incursion against Hezbollah militants could be imminent.
Asked about reports that Israeli ground troops were preparing to move into southern Lebanon, Biden told reporters that he was “comfortable with them (Israel) stopping.”
Several top aides reinforced Biden’s call for a ceasefire by urging a diplomatic resolution to the violence to 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 advance a diplomatic resolution,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken told a State Department conference.
But a U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the positioning of Israeli troops as observed by the United States suggested a ground incursion into Lebanon could be imminent.
The official declined to comment further or to provide details on the posture of Israeli forces.
The U.S. call for de-escalation follows two weeks of Israeli airstrikes and assassinations of Hezbollah commanders, including the Iran-backed group’s leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, on Friday.
Israeli officials say they will do what is necessary to return some 70,000 citizens evacuated from northern Israeli communities after Hezbollah on Oct. 8 began rocket strikes in support of a Hamas assault on Israel from Gaza the previous day.
Speaking to troops deployed along Israel’s northern border, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant hinted at a looming ground incursion.
“We will use all the means that may be required – your forces, other forces, from the air, from the sea, and on land. Good luck,” Gallant said.
The Biden administration fears the killing of Nasrallah and further Israeli military action could ignite a wider regional conflict.
The U.S. envoy to the United Nations urged continued diplomacy to halt 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 find security and safety as well,” U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield told reporters.
(Reporting by Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali Michelle Nichols and Doina Chiacu; Writing by Jonathan Landay; Editing by Caitlin Webber, Don Durfee and Howard Goller)
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