U.S., EU and nine other nations call for 21-day cease-fire on Israel-Lebanon border

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U.S., EU and nine other nations call for 21-day cease-***** on *******-Lebanon border

WASHINGTON — A day after President Joe Biden told the ******* Nations General Assembly that he did not want to see a “full-scale war” in the Middle East, the U.S. and a group of nine other nations plus the ********* Union called for a 21-day cease-***** across the Lebanon-******* border.

“It is time to conclude a diplomatic settlement that enables civilians on both sides of the border to return to their homes in safety,” they said in a ****** statement on Wednesday night. “Diplomacy however cannot succeed amid an escalation of this conflict.”

******** airstrikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon have ******* at least 72 people, according to a Reuters compilation of Lebanese health ministry statements.

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 the Iran-backed militant group has intensified ******* of rockets into northern *******. Tensions on that border have increased since the October 7 ******* by ****** on ******* that ******* 1,200 people.

******* responded by launching military strikes on Gaza that have ******* about 40,000 Palestinians, according to the ******-run Gazan Health Ministry.

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Smoke billows over Khiam, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and ******** forces, as seen from Marjayoun, near the border with *******, September 25, 2024. REUTERS/Karamallah Daher

A U.S. official told reporters that the involved parties would need to agree to the temporary cease-***** but said that they were familiar with the text and would respond in coming hours. The U.S. said it had been speaking directly to the Lebanese government and inferred that its government would work to negotiate the terms of an agreement with Hezbollah.

The statement came after Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron met on the sidelines of the ******* Nations General Assembly in New York on Wednesday. The ****** statement included France, Australia, Canada, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Germany Italy, Qatar and the ******* ***** Emirates, in addition to the U.S. and EU.

U.S. officials are concerned that a ratcheting up of tensions could lead to a broader, regional conflict in the Middle East and have been trying to negotiate a cease-***** across the demarcation line that divides ******* from Lebanon.

*******’s military chief told troops on Wednesday that its heavy airstrikes in Lebanon were preparing the way for a possible ground operation by ******** forces against Hezbollah militants. A flurry of diplomacy sought to prevent a second front from opening in the war between ******* and ****** militants in Gaza.

******* also shot down a missile that the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement said it had aimed at the headquarters of the Mossad intelligence agency near *******’s biggest city, Tel Aviv.

******** officials said a heavy missile had headed towards civilian areas in Tel Aviv, not the Mossad HQ, before being shot down.

Contributing: Reuters

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:

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