U.S. President Joe Biden suggested on Monday that he is opposed to Israel’s plans for military ground operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
After the president delivered remarks at the White House about Hurricane Helene, a reporter asked Biden if he was aware of Israel’s plans.
“I’m more aware than you might know, and I’m comfortable with them stopping,” Biden said. “We should have a ceasefire now.”
The president did not take further questions on the topic.
The U.S. State Department said on Monday that Israel informed Washington that it intends to launch “limited” military ground operations inside Lebanon.
Matthew Miller, the State Department spokesman, told reporters that the Biden administration continues to seek a “diplomatic resolution” to the conflict, even as Israel steps up its military efforts to repel Hezbollah from its northern border.
“They have been informing us about a number of operations,” Miller said. “They have, at this time, told us that those are limited operations focused on Hezbollah infrastructure near the border.”
A reporter asked if Miller understood those plans to include ground operations, and he said that he did without going into detail about what a “limited” operation would entail or any specifics of Israel’s plans.
“What we continue to engage with Israel about when it comes to Lebanon is ensuring that they have the ability to attack terrorist targets, terrorist infrastructure, a terrorist organization, but ultimately, we want to see a diplomatic resolution,” Miller said.
Over the past two weeks, Israel has carried out devastating attacks on the Lebanese Hezbollah terrorist organization, culminating in the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an airstrike south of Beirut on Friday.
Miller said the Biden administration supported the strike on Nasrallah.
“We support bringing him to justice,” Miller said. “We think that’s ultimately something that’s good for the country.”
