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US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are planning to speak on Wednesday, a person familiar with the matter said, as the White House seeks to defuse spiralling tensions in the Middle East.
The conversation between the two leaders, the first in nearly two months, comes a day after Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant postponed a trip to Washington, DC.
A person familiar with the matter said Netanyahu told Gallant to push back his visit.
The call between Biden and Netanyahu comes as Israel considers its response to Iran’s missile attack last week. The US has been pushing its ally to avoid any strikes on nuclear facilities and cautioned against attacking Iran’s energy infrastructure.
It also follows Israeli troops’ invasion of southern Lebanon last week, as the country’s conflict with the Iran-backed militant group Hizbollah intensifies.
On Wednesday, Israeli troops and Hizbollah fighters clashed near the Lebanese border, a day after Israel carried out one of its largest waves of air strikes on southern Lebanon since the conflict erupted a year ago.
Two people were killed in the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona on Wednesday after a rocket barrage by the Iran-backed militant group, the IDF and local health authorities said. Several people were wounded, and social media showed houses on fire in the town.
Hizbollah said overnight that its fighters had confronted Israeli troops trying to “infiltrate” the border village of Blida after targeting them with an explosive device.
Hizbollah also said its militants fired rockets and artillery shells, forcing the retreat of Israel Defense Forces trying to advance near Labbouneh in the south-west.
Israel said at least three soldiers were wounded in the fighting this week, as its ground offensive swelled to four combat divisions — as many as 20,000 troops at maximum strength.
The Israeli army is breaching the border in at least four locations after launching its invasion last week, with each division probably supporting each point of entry, an Israeli official said, declining to provide more details.
Netanyahu on Tuesday released a video message in which he called on the Lebanese population to rise up against Hizbollah, urging them to “save” their country “before it falls into an abyss of destruction and suffering like Gaza”.
While much of the direct fighting between Israeli troops and Hizbollah fighters continues to be limited to an area close to the border, the Israeli air force has carried out a large series of co-ordinated air strikes concentrating on southern Lebanon but extending into the Bekaa Valley, the IDF said.
Hizbollah has responded by firing projectiles into northern Israel and as far south as Haifa, a commercial and cultural hub. A handful of rockets were also launched towards Tel Aviv this week.
The IDF said it had tracked 180 “projectiles” crossing from Lebanon into Israeli territory through late Tuesday night, including a major barrage at Haifa.
As Israel continues its campaign in Lebanon, it is also conducting regular air strikes in Syria, where Hizbollah and Iranian forces have a presence.
On Tuesday, Syria’s defence ministry accused Israel of launching three missiles that struck a residential and commercial building in the Mezzeh neighbourhood of Damascus, which it said killed seven civilians, including women and children. Mezzeh is home to many foreign embassies, including Iran’s, as well as offices linked to Syrian state security.
An air strike on Wednesday killed one security personnel member in the southwestern town of Quneitra, according to the Syrian state news agency.
Israeli bombardment of Lebanon has decimated the command structure of the group, including killing Hassan Nasrallah, its top leader.
The air strikes on Tuesday were the second-largest wave of attacks since Israel dramatically intensified its air campaign against Hizbollah in Lebanon late last month, two Israeli officials said, as it focused on a large bank of targets identified by military intelligence.
That wave of bombings, which began around September 20, eventually included nearly 5,000 air strikes over several days, according to a Financial Times tally.
Israeli strikes have killed more than 2,100 people over the past year and forced about 1.2mn from their homes, mostly in the past two weeks, according to Lebanese authorities.
Tuesday’s bombings were aimed at more than 125 “significant targets”, the IDF said. Dozens of underground structures for at least three Hizbollah military units were destroyed — killing at least 50 Hizbollah operatives — as were 30 different locations involving Hizbollah rockets, the IDF said.
Israel has said its Lebanon offensive is aimed at securing its northern border area to allow about 60,000 Israelis to return to their homes, after a year of exchanging cross-border fire with Hizbollah. The Lebanese group had started firing rockets towards Israel in support of Gaza a day after the October 7 2023 Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel.
