Middle East crisis live: Biden adviser flies in amid warnings Israel-Hezbollah clashes could escalate
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the Middle East crisis.
A senior adviser to Joe Biden will travel to Israel on Monday in a bid to prevent tensions between Israel and Lebanon from worsening, a White House official has said. Amos Hochstein will advance efforts to avoid further escalation along the UN-drawn blue line between Israel and Lebanon, said the official, who did not wish to be identified.
Attacks between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon have led to worries of a deeper war across the Middle East.
On Sunday, the Israeli military said that intensified cross-border fire from Hezbollah could trigger a serious escalation. “Hezbollah’s increasing aggression is bringing us to the brink of what could be a wider escalation, one that could have devastating consequences for Lebanon and the entire region,” Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari said in a video statement in English.
“Israel will take the necessary measures to protect its civilians – until security along our border with Lebanon is restored,” he said.
In other developments:
Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly criticised plans announced by the military to hold daily tactical pauses in fighting along one of the main roads into Gaza to facilitate the delivery of aid. “When the prime minister heard the reports of an 11-hour humanitarian pause in the morning, he turned to his military secretary and made it clear that this was unacceptable to him,” an unnamed Israeli official told media late on Sunday
The official said Netanyahu received assurances that “there is no change” in the military’s policy and “fighting in Rafah continues as planned”. Israeli television stations later quoted Netanyahu as criticising the military, saying: “We have a country with an army, not an army with a country”
On Sunday the military announced a daily pause that would begin in the Rafah area at 8am and remain in effect until 7pm along the main Salah al-Din road, to allow aid trucks to transit between the Kerem Shalom crossing from Israel, adding that the pause would take place every day until further notice
France is working alongside the US on a negotiated settlement to the hostilities along Lebanon’s southern front. Last week, Hezbollah launched the largest volleys of rockets and drones yet in the eight months it has been exchanging fire with the Israeli military, in parallel with the Gaza war. Hezbollah says it will not halt fire until Israel halts its military offensive in Gaza