Israel's military chief has told troops air strikes in Lebanon will continue in order to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure and to prepare the way for a possible ground operation by Israeli forces.
"You hear the jets overhead; we have been striking all day," General Herzi Halevi said at Lebanon's border with Israel, according to a statement from the military.
"This is both to prepare the ground for your possible entry and to continue degrading Hezbollah."
Even as he spoke, sources told Reuters the United States had started a diplomatic push to stop the fighting in both Gaza and Lebanon, and that proposals were being hammered out at the UN General Assembly in New York.
US President Joe Biden told the US network ABC that all-out war was possible, but added: "We're still in play to have a settlement that can fundamentally change the whole region."
IDF calls in more reservists for 'continuation of combat'
Israel on Wednesday widened its air strikes in Lebanon and shot down a missile that the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement said it had aimed at the headquarters of the Mossad intelligence agency near Israel's biggest city, Tel Aviv.
The IDF's attacks this week have targeted Hezbollah leaders and hit hundreds of sites deep inside Lebanon, forcing thousands of civilians to flee the border region, while the armed group has fired back barrages of rockets into Israel.
Areas in south Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley, both Hezbollah strongholds, have been the main target so far. Israel said on Wednesday it was calling up two more reserve brigades for operations on the northern border.
"This will enable the continuation of combat against the Hezbollah terrorist organisation, the defence of the State of Israel, and create the conditions to enable the residents of northern Israel to return to their homes," it said.
It also expanded its strike zones, with attacks for the first time on the beach resort of Jiyyeh, just south of Beirut. Other areas hit include Bint Jbeil, Tebnin and Ain Qana in the south, the village of Joun in the southerly Chouf district near Sidon, and Maaysrah in the northern Keserwan district.
In a brief video message that made no comment on US-led efforts to secure a ceasefire deal, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hezbollah was being hit harder than it could ever have imagined, and repeated a vow to return tens of thousands of Israelis to their homes in northern border areas.
Lebanese hospitals have filled with the wounded since Monday, when Israeli bombing killed more than 550 people in Lebanon's deadliest day since its civil war ended in 1990.
At least 51 people were killed and at least 223 wounded in Wednesday's strikes, according to the Lebanese health minister.
Hezbollah said it had aimed a missile at Mossad headquarters "in support of our steadfast Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip … and in defence of Lebanon and its people".
It blamed Mossad for assassinations of its leaders and has also accused it of booby-trapping Hezbollah members' pagers and radios that exploded last week, killing 39 people and wounding nearly 3,000. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied involvement.
Flurry of diplomacy
France, which has historical ties with Lebanon, joined the US at the United Nations on an interim accord to stop the fighting and open the door to more diplomacy.
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday he was dispatching his foreign minister, Jean-Noel Barrot, to Lebanon at the end of the week.
"There cannot be, must not be war in Lebanon," he said in a speech at the UN General Assembly in New York.
"We are firmly calling on Israel to stop the escalation in Lebanon and Hezbollah to stop firing toward Israel."
Even prior to the recent flare-up, France had worked for months on proposals to defuse tensions between the two sides.
A senior Western diplomat told Reuters that the deal sought by the US would include an Israeli announcement of an end to major hostilities in Gaza, followed by a push for a ceasefire in Lebanon and then a political deal that could see a demarcation of the contentious Israeli-Lebanese land border.
Meanwhile Lebanese officials familiar with Hezbollah's thinking said it would be impossible to stop the conflict without a settlement including both Hamas and Hezbollah.
In another sign that diplomacy was accelerating, Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, on Monday announced an unexpected trip to New York.
Pentagon says US not providing intelligence to Israel for Lebanon operations
The Pentagon on Wednesday denied having any involvement in the IDF's operations relating to Hezbollah and Lebanon.
Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh also said no Israeli ground incursion into Lebanon appeared imminent, but referred reporters to Israel for questions about its operations and plans.
Asked about whether the United States was supporting Israel's operations in Lebanon, including with intelligence support, Singh said: "No. No support."
"When it comes to Lebanon, the US military has no involvement in Israel's operations," Ms Singh said.
It was unclear whether her remarks applied to the sharing of any real-time US intelligence on Hezbollah missiles that might be heading toward Israel.
"You're seeing a full-court press here from United States government and this administration. We want to see a diplomatic solution, and we want to see it urgently," she added.
Reuters/ABC
