TEL AVIV: Israel's main international ally the United States warned on Wednesday against Gaza-like military action in Lebanon after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened it with "destruction" similar to that of the Palestinian territory.
But armed forces chief Herzi Halevi vowed to keep up Israel's intensive bombing of Hezbollah targets, which has already killed more than 1,200 people since September 23, "without allowing them any respite or recovery".
The comments came after a hotly anticipated phone call between Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden, their first in seven weeks, which had been expected to focus on Israel's response to last week's missile barrage by Iran.
During the call, Biden told Netanyahu to "minimise harm" to civilians in Lebanon, particularly in "densely populated areas of Beirut", the White House said.
"There should be no kind of military action in Lebanon that looks anything like Gaza and leaves a result anything like Gaza," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told journalists.
Netanyahu said in a video address to the people of Lebanon on Tuesday: "You have an opportunity to save Lebanon before it falls into the abyss of a long war that will lead to destruction and suffering like we see in Gaza." He added: "Free your country from Hezbollah so that this war can end."
Biden and Netanyahu's call had been expected to focus on Israel's response to last week's missile barrage by Iran.
Iran fired about 200 missiles at Israel in what it said was retaliation for the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. Most were intercepted by allied air forces or Israel's own air defences.
Biden has cautioned Israel against attempting to target Iran's nuclear programme, which would risk major retaliation, and is also against striking the country's oil installations, which would send world crude prices spiking.
A Lebanese government source said that Hezbollah had accepted a ceasefire with Israel on September 27, the day an Israeli strike killed the group's leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Hezbollah said its fighters were locked in clashes with Israeli troops in southern Lebanon, using rocket-propelled weapons to repel attempts to breach the border.
Two people were killed by suspected Hezbollah rocket fire in the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona, while Israel intercepted two projectiles fired towards the coastal town of Caesarea, officials said.
Lebanon's health ministry said at least four people were killed in an Israeli strike on a village southeast of Beirut, an area so far largely spared from Israeli bombing.
Lebanon's state civil defence body said an Israeli strike killed five of its personnel in the southern village of Derdghaiya. — AFP
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