US wants to see Israel scale back some Beirut strikes, Austin says

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STORY: ::October 19, 2024

::The Pentagon chief says the U.S. wants Israel to scale back on some strikes in Lebanon's capital

::Lloyd Austin, U.S. Secretary of Defense

"The number of casualties, civilian casualties have been far too high. We would like to see, you know, Israel scale back on some of the strikes it is taking, especially in and around Beirut, and we would like to see things transition to some sort of negotiation that would allow civilians on both sides of the border to return to their homes."

::Naples, Italy

"The number of civilian casualties have been far too high," Austin told reporters at a G7 defense gathering in the Italian city of Naples. "We’d like to see Israel scale back on some of the strikes it’s taking, especially in and around Beirut, and we’d like to see things transition to some sort of negotiation that will allow civilians on both sides of the border to return to their homes."

Tens of thousands of people have fled Beirut's southern suburbs - once a densely populated zone that also housed Hezbollah offices and underground installations - since Israel began regularly targeting the zone approximately three weeks ago.