White House says resolution to Israel-Hezbollah tensions 'achievable and urgent'

WASHINGTON

A diplomatic resolution to soaring tensions between Israel and Hezbollah is "both achievable and urgent," the White House said Monday amid heavy Israeli bombardment that has killed nearly 500 people in Lebanon.

"Our commitment to Israel's security is ironclad and unwavering against all Iran-backed threats, including Hezbollah," spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters aboard Air Force One.

"The conflict along the Blue Line between Israel and Hezbollah has gone on for long enough. It's in everyone's interest to resolve it quickly and diplomatically, and that's where we've been. That's what we continue to say. We need to see a diplomatic resolution. That's what the president is going to continue to call for," she added.

Jean-Pierre was referring to the demarcation line that runs between Israel and Lebanon, and the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights.

Israel dramatically increased its airstrikes across Lebanon Monday, pounding the north and south in airstrikes it says are targeting Hezbollah. The official death toll surged dramatically throughout the day with at least 492 confirmed deaths, including 35 children.

A total of 1,645 others have been injured and thousands have been forced to flee their homes amid the relentless bombardment.

The Israeli army on Monday evening claimed that it had hit over 1,100 Hezbollah targets in the last 24 hours in southern and eastern Lebanon. The military said it used more than 1,400 different munitions in some 650 sorties of its fighter jets over Lebanon.

“The Israeli aggression is a scheme aimed at destroying Lebanese villages, towns and eradicating all green spaces,” said Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati.

Hezbollah separately said that its forces fired dozens of rockets at Israel’s Rafael Electronics Company, which is due north of Haifa, as well as the reserve headquarters of the Northern Corps and logistics base of the Galilee Formation in the Ami'ad camp.

This was the second time Hezbollah targeted military sites in Haifa, having previously fired missiles at the city on Sunday.

Tension has mounted between Hezbollah and Israel following a deadly airstrike on Friday that killed at least 45 people, including women and children, and injured dozens in a suburb of Beirut.

Hezbollah confirmed that at least 16 of its members, including senior leader Ibrahim Aqil and top commander Ahmed Wahbi, were killed in the Israeli airstrike.

Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza, which has killed over 41,400 people, mostly women and children, following an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by Hamas.

The international community has warned against the strikes on Lebanon, as they raise the specter of spreading the Gaza conflict regionally.