DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. — President Joe Biden said on Sunday he would speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and believes an all-out war in the Middle East should be avoided.
“It has to be this way,” Biden told reporters as he departed for Washington aboard Air Force One. “We really need to avoid this.”
The president’s comments come as Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon killed dozens of people on Sunday. He did not say when he planned to speak with Netanyahu.
The Iranian-backed Hezbollah suffered a series of deadly blows to its chain of command, including the assassination of its overall leader, Hassan Nasrallahas part of a wave of increasingly brazen Israeli attacks aimed at undermining the group’s ability to attack its territory.
Tens of thousands of Israelis and Lebanese have been forced to evacuate near the Israel-Lebanon border as Hezbollah has fired rocket salvos into Israel almost daily for the past 11 months and Israel has responded with its own attacks.
With tens of thousands of civilians displaced on both sides, the Biden administration has sought to broker a negotiated solution that would allow them to return home and prevent a broader regional conflict.
Earlier Sunday, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Israel had “wiped out” Hezbollah’s command structure with a barrage of airstrikes that took out Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and several of the group’s leaders.
But Kirby warned that Hezbollah will work to rebuild quickly.
“I think people are safer without him around,” Kirby said, referring to Friday’s strike that killed Nasrallah. “But they will try to recover. We look at what they are doing to fill this leadership vacuum. It’s going to be difficult.”
Kirby dodged questions about whether the administration approved of the Israelis’ targeting of Hezbollah leaders, who the Israelis say have built command structures and other facilities next to or beneath civilian sites. Lebanese officials say the attacks have also killed many innocent civilians.
The White House continues to call on Israel and Hezbollah to agree to a temporary 21-day ceasefire proposed last week by the US, France and other countries when world leaders gathered for the UN General Assembly.
“If you want to get those people back home safely and sustainably, we believe a diplomatic path is the way to go,” Kirby said.
He made the comments during an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union.”