The US is sending additional troops to the Middle East amid Israel’s deadliest barrage on Lebanon since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war.
Israeli airstrikes killed more than 490 people, including more than 90 women and children on Monday, the Lebanese health minister said.
Israel’s military claimed to have hit 1,300 Hezbollah targets in what it called the start of a “proactive offensive operation” against the Iran-backed militia.
The Pentagon said it was sending a “small number” of added troops to the region after thousands were deployed earlier alongside warships, fighter jets and air defence systems.
Joe Biden, whose country is Israel’s main ally and weapons supplier, said Washington was “working to de-escalate in a way that allows people to return home safely”.
Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, on Monday accused Israel of laying “traps” to lead his country into war. “They are dragging us to a point where we do not wish to go,” he warned.
It comes after Benjamin Netanyahu urged all Lebanese civilians to “get out of harm’s way” in an evening video message, telling them Israel’s fight is with Hezbollah, not Lebanon.
An Israeli strike also hit southern Beirut targeting one of Hezbollah’s last battlefield commanders. The fate of Ali Karaki, the head of the southern front, is still unclear.
