The US and France were racing on Wednesday to secure a temporary truce between Israel and Hizbollah as Israel’s military chief told troops to prepare for a potential ground offensive in Lebanon.
US President Joe Biden and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron were involved in the diplomatic push at the UN general assembly in New York, according to people briefed on the situation. Two people said they were aiming for a 21-day ceasefire, during which mediators would work on a longer-term agreement.
The halt to the escalating conflict would be used to work towards fully implementing a UN resolution reached in 2006 to end a previous conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed militants, which calls for changes including the demilitarisation of southern Lebanon along the Israeli border, the person said.
French president Macron said on Wednesday there “must not be war in Lebanon”, adding that he was dispatching foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot to Beirut at the end of the week as part of the effort to avert an all-out war.
“We are firmly calling on Israel to stop the escalation in Lebanon and Hizbollah to stop firing towards Israel,” he told delegates at the general assembly.
The US and France were preparing to issue a call for the temporary truce on Wednesday but Hizbollah had requested amendments to their statement, leaving no certainty as to whether it would be agreed, one of the people said.
The diplomatic drive came as the Israel Defense Forces’ chief of staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi told troops that air strikes on Lebanon were not just aimed at “degrading” the Lebanese militant group but “to prepare the ground for your possible entry”.
“We are preparing the process of a manoeuvre, which means your military boots, your manoeuvring boots, will enter enemy territory, enter villages that Hizbollah has prepared as large military outposts,” he said.
The speech was Israel’s most explicit threat of a ground offensive since it began an intense bombardment of Lebanon from the air three days ago, striking thousands of targets it said were linked to Iran-backed Hizbollah, while killing hundreds of people and adding to fears of all-out war.
Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said on Wednesday that “in terms of a ground incursion . . . it doesn’t look like something is imminent”. But in a sign of US concern, Biden said he was “using every bit of energy I have” to try to halt the fighting in the hope that a “ceasefire in Lebanon” could pave the way to “dealing with the [occupied] West Bank” and Gaza.
Biden said Arab nations in the region were “willing to make arrangements with Israel and alliances if Israel changes some policies”.
But his language contrasted with Halevi’s call for Israeli troops to prepare to enter Lebanon in what would be Israel’s first invasion of the country since the two sides fought a 34-day war in 2006.
The IDF said it was calling up two reserve brigades, which would “enable the continuation of combat” against Hizbollah to defend Israeli territory and allow residents of northern Israel displaced by the cross-border conflict — which has been simmering since Hamas’s attack on the Jewish state last October — to return home.
However, Israel has yet to mobilise military reservists on the scale that it did when it launched its offensive against Hamas in Gaza 11 months ago.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted on Wednesday the military operation would continue. “I can’t go into detail about everything we do, but I can tell you one thing: We are determined to return our residents in the north safely to their homes,” he said in a short video.
Israeli air strikes have killed more than 600 people this week, including 51 on Wednesday, according to Lebanese authorities. The International Organization for Migration said at least 90,000 people in Lebanon had been displaced by the violence.
Early on Wednesday, sirens sounded in Tel Aviv as Hizbollah fired a ballistic missile at Israel for the first time.
Hizbollah said the Qader 1 ballistic missile, more destructive and with a longer range than the rockets the group had fired so far in the conflict, targeted the headquarters of Israeli intelligence agency Mossad on the outskirts of Tel Aviv.
Though intercepted by Israel’s air defences with no damage or injuries reported, the launch marked one of the group’s deepest strike attempts and its first aimed at the economic hub of Tel Aviv.
The Qader 1 is described by the Center for Strategic and International Studies as a medium-range ballistic missile developed in Iran and first tested in 2015. Analysts believe it can carry a 750kg warhead and hit targets 1,600km away.
Hizbollah also revealed it used “Fadi” rockets this week for the first time. The rockets have a range of 70km to 100km — longer than those used so far by the group.
Israel has been bracing for more intense Hizbollah fire after the IDF began heavy raids on the group’s strongholds on Monday.
On Wednesday, Israeli air strikes pummelled Lebanon with renewed ferocity, expanding the campaign to new regions of the country outside Hizbollah-dominated areas. They have triggered an exodus of residents from southern Lebanon as panicked families fled to safer areas.
Hizbollah’s barrages have increased in response to the Israeli strikes, and the group has fired deeper into Israel. Most of its projectiles have been intercepted by Israel’s air defences, but the group is thought to have large unused stockpiles.
More than 3,000 people were injured and 37 killed across Lebanon last week when Hizbollah’s communications devices detonated en masse. The group blamed Israel for the assault, though the Israeli government has not directly commented.
Data visualisation by Steven Bernard and Chris Cook
