The US administration has for nearly a year sought unsuccessfully to secure a ceasefire in Gaza, Reuters notes.

The conflict has been costly politically for US President Joe Biden and by extension, Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign with the violence in Lebanon increasing pressure on his administration to find a diplomatic solution.

Earlier on Wednesday, Israel shot down a missile that the Hezbollah movement said it had aimed at the headquarters of the Mossad intelligence agency near Israel’s biggest city, Tel Aviv.

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

A Pentagon spokesperson said an Israeli ground incursion did not appear imminent.