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Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III said on Saturday that the number of civilian casualties in Lebanon was “far too high” and that he would “like to see Israel scale back some of the strikes it’s taking, especially in and around Beirut.”
Mr. Austin is the most senior U.S. official to make that point publicly and in such strong language. He also blamed Hezbollah for hiding its headquarters, rockets and missiles that Israel is attacking among the civilian population.
Earlier this week, Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, said that his government had received “a sort of guarantee” from the Biden administration that Israel would scale back its attacks on Beirut. The White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, affirmed on Wednesday that the Biden administration had told Israel that it opposed “near-daily strikes” in “densely populated areas of Beirut.”
“We also understand that what they’re conducting — the operations that they’re conducting to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure — is targeted,” Ms. Jean-Pierre said. She added that it was “critical that these operations be conducted in a way” that would not threaten the lives of civilians.
Israel had appeared to limit strikes in and around Lebanon’s capital after Ms. Jean-Pierre’s comments, but on Saturday, the Israeli military struck in the Dahiya, the densely packed urban area near Beirut where Hezbollah holds sway. The attacks appeared to be the heaviest bombardment in the area in days.
After a call with Mr. Austin on Saturday, Israel’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant, said in a statement that Israeli forces are committed “to mitigating harm” to both Lebanese civilians and to U.N. peacekeeping troops stationed in the country’s south.
Mr. Austin declined to comment on how long the Israeli aerial assault and limited ground invasion would last, referring questions on timing and objectives to Israeli officials.
Last month, Israel mounted a major offensive in Lebanon, targeting the leaders of Hezbollah, the Shiite militant and political group, and destroying much of its arsenal. The bombing has forced nearly one million people to leave their homes. Israel has said it needs to push Hezbollah fighters north and destroy their arms stockpiles to allow tens of thousands of Israeli residents to return to their homes in the country’s north after fleeing Hezbollah rocket barrages.
Speaking to reporters traveling with him after a security meeting of the Group of 7 in Naples, Italy, Mr. Austin also said “things are being done” to reverse a sharp decline in humanitarian aid to Gaza. He did not elaborate on what improvements had been made in recent days.
Last Sunday, Mr. Austin and Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken wrote in a letter to senior Israeli officials that their nation would face consequences — including the risk of losing U.S. security aid — if humanitarian assistance to Gazans did not increase in the next 30 days.
The State Department said earlier this week that the amount of aid entering Gaza in September was the lowest it had been at any time since the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which set off the Israeli invasion.
The American warning to Israel that it faces potential aid cuts comes as U.S. and U.N. officials say that conditions in Gaza, where most of the population has been displaced, and basic necessities are in short supply, have deteriorated still more in recent weeks. That is particularly the case in the territory’s north, as Israel has placed increasing restrictions on the delivery of international aid.
“We need to bend that curve in the other direction,” Mr. Austin said of the urgent shortages of humanitarian assistance. “We need to make sure these civilians in Gaza are getting what they need to survive.”
Also on Saturday, Mr. Austin told his Israeli counterpart, Mr. Gallant, in a phone call, that he was relieved that no one had been injured by a drone that had been launched from Lebanon toward the private residence of Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in the coastal town of Caesarea, according to the Pentagon press secretary, Maj. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder.
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