The Biden administration is leading a diplomatic pressure campaign to dissuade Israel from attacking Lebanon’s capital Beirut or major civil infrastructure in response to Hezbollah’s rocket attack on Majdal Shams, Reuters reported on Monday.

According to the report, the US “is racing” to avoid a full-blown war by moderating Israel’s response.

Lebanon’s deputy parliament speaker Elias Bou Saab said that Israel could prevent a major escalation by sparing Beirut and its southern suburbs, Dahiya.

“If they avoid civilians and they avoid Beirut and its suburbs, then their attack could be well calculated,” he told Reuters.

However, according to the report, Israel did not agree to comply with the US request.

The U.S. State Department said it is seeking a “durable solution” to the escalation but refused to comment on the content of diplomatic conversations.

White House spokesperson John Kirby told reporters that Israel had every right to respond to the Golan strike, but that nobody wanted a broader war. “As for conversations over the weekend, you bet we’ve had them and we had them at multiple levels,” he added. “But I’m not going to detail the guts of those conversations.”

Meanwhile, Hezbollah has reportedly transferred some of its smart precision-guided missiles to use if needed in case of war. Thousands of people in Lebanon are attempting to flee the country while numerous airlines are suspending their flights to Beirut.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)