US President Joe Biden has said he does not want a “full-scale war” to break out in Lebanon, a day after Israeli forces launched a massive bombing campaign that has killed hundreds of people across the country.
Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Tuesday, Biden said a diplomatic solution between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah is the only way forward.
“A full-scale war benefits no one,” he said.
For months, the US president has faced calls to condition his administration's support for Israel as it wages war in the Gaza Strip, where more than 41,400 Palestinians have been killed. Experts have also warned Biden that the war in Gaza could lead to a wider regional conflict.
But the Democrat, who will not seek re-election in November, has maintained his staunch support for the Israeli government, earning him continued criticism for his approach.
His speech came after the Lebanese Health Ministry said on Tuesday that at least 569 people, including 50 children, had been killed and 1,835 wounded in Israeli airstrikes in various parts of the country this week.
The Israeli military also continued to shell the Gaza Strip, killing at least 37 people throughout the day on Tuesday, according to the Palestinian Civil Defense.
During his speech to the UN General Assembly, Biden reiterated his call for Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian group that rules Gaza, to agree to a ceasefire deal that would also guarantee the release of Israeli captives held in the Palestinian enclave.
But critics say Biden's failure to exert pressure on Israel has allowed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to thwart ceasefire efforts and step up Israeli military strikes on Lebanon.
Marwan Bishara, a senior political analyst at Al Jazeera, said that despite Biden’s claims that he does not want a regional conflict to break out, the US is “aiding the escalation towards war”.
“They continue to support the Israeli army unconditionally,” Bishara said.
“Netanyahu is bringing the region to the brink of the abyss, to disaster, and the United States is protecting him, shielding him, financing him and arming him.”
Lebanon's foreign minister also said he was disappointed by Biden's remarks on the Middle East at the General Assembly.
“It was not strong, it is not promising and it would not solve the Lebanese problem,” Abdallah Bou Habib said during an event at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Support for Ukraine
Biden also used his speech to highlight his administration's support for Ukraine amid Russia's invasion.
Washington has provided kyiv with tens of billions of dollars in military and other aid since Russia's full-scale invasion began in 2022.
“The good news is that [Russian President Vladimir] “Putin's war has failed in its primary objective. He set out to destroy Ukraine, but Ukraine remains free,” Biden said.
“We cannot tire, we cannot look the other way and we will not cease our support for Ukraine, not until Ukraine wins a just and lasting peace.”
But US aid to Ukraine could be in doubt if former President Donald Trump, who has said he plans to reduce support, defeats Vice President Kamala Harris in the US presidential election in November.
Trump said Tuesday that the United States needs to get out of the war in Ukraine and that Biden and Harris had no plan to do so.
“Biden and Kamala got us into this war in Ukraine and now they can't get us out of it. They can't get us out of it,” he said in a speech in the US state of Georgia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been pressing the Biden administration to ease restrictions on the use of Western-supplied long-range missiles so Ukrainian forces can strike deeper inside Russia, disrupting logistical supply lines.
Biden and Harris are scheduled to hold separate meetings with Zelensky on Thursday in Washington, D.C., where the Ukrainian leader will also meet with Democratic and Republican members of Congress.
