Biden vows to discuss escalating Israel-Lebanon conflict with Netanyahu

" It has to be [avoided]," said Biden, referring to the tensions between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah during a short meeting with the press before his departure from Delaware to Washington, D.C.

When asked about the possibility of avoiding a full escalation of the conflict after Israel killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, Biden stated, "We really have to avoid it." The president stressed that he will soon have a conversation on this topic with Prime Minister Netanyahu, and the White House will report on it.

Earlier, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby expressed a similar stance. In an interview with CNN, he noted that escalating the war will not speed up the return of Israeli residents to the border region.

Towns on both sides of the Israeli-Lebanese border were evacuated shortly after the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7. Since then, Hezbollah, which controls southern Lebanon, has regularly shelled Israel in solidarity with the Palestinian organization, prompting strong counterattacks from Israel.

According to Lebanese authorities, Israeli bombings on Sunday killed at least 66 people.

The Israeli army reported that in the latest wave of strikes, they attacked 45 Hezbollah-related sites in southern Lebanon, including weapon arsenals. Earlier, there were reports of an air raid on the southern district of Beirut, Dahieh, a Hezbollah stronghold.

The military added that in the afternoon, Hezbollah launched around 20 rockets at northern Israel. Most of them were intercepted, and there were no reports of casualties or injuries. The Iran-backed Lebanese group confirmed the attack, noting that the target was the city of Safed.