“But we’re going to do everything we can to keep a wider war from breaking out. And we’re still pushing hard,” Biden told reporters on the South Lawn.
Biden, who was returning after a weekend in Wilmington, Delaware, where he had hosted the leaders of the Quad, which includes Australia, India and Japan, added that he believed it had been a “successful” weekend of diplomacy.
“We had very successful meetings of the Quad in Delaware. Total unity, we’re all working together, we feel good about what we’re doing,” Biden added.
US officials are continuing to urge Israel to de-escalate, amid rising tensions in the north, following cross-border strikes against Hezbollah, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said Sunday.
It is the White House’s view that military escalation will not help Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government reach its goals to restore a sense of normalcy for Israelis on Lebanon’s border, stressed Kirby.
“We don’t believe that escalating this conflict militarily is the best way to get those families back to their Kibuttzes, back to their homes, back to their lives. We still believe that there is time and space for diplomacy to work,” Kirby said on “Fox News Sunday.”
Kirby added US officials are involved in “extensive” efforts, when asked on “ABC This Week” about what the US is doing to move forward diplomatic efforts.
“We have been involved in extensive and quite assertive diplomacy. In fact, our one of our envoys, Amos Hochstein, who I think you know, was in the region just a few days ago. We will certainly keep up those conversations as best we can. And we’re talking to both sides here.”
Kirby added that they are continuing to watch the escalating tensions with concern.
“We’re watching with concern the escalating tensions in the region and across that border here in the last week or so. And we don’t believe, continue to not believe, that kinetic action, military action, by either side is really in either side’s best interest […] There’s a better way forward here,” Kirby stated.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, wireless communication devices associated with Hezbollah exploded across Lebanon, injuring thousands and killing dozens, including civilians. Lebanon blamed the unprecedented attack on Israel.
Israel also conducted an air strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut on Friday that killed at least 45 people and injured dozens more.
Senior Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Aqil was among those killed in the attack that levelled an entire residential building.
Hezbollah and Tel Aviv have engaged in daily clashes since the outbreak of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip. The Lebanese group warned it will continue its attacks on Israeli bases until the regime ends its Gaza offensive.
The violence has displaced tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border.
The two sides appear to be in an escalatory spiral, risking a serious conflict. Hezbollah has stressed it is not seeking an all-out war, but it is ready for one should it occur.
Israeli leaders have promised to push Hezbollah off the border and return its citizens to communities in the north, including through war if necessary.
