The United States does not want a protracted Israeli campaign in Lebanon, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said, Reuters reports. Several Israeli strikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs on Thursday evening, Reuters witnesses said.

“As Israel conducts operations to remove the threat to Israel and its people along the border with Lebanon, we have been very clear that this cannot lead, should not lead, to a protracted campaign,” Blinken said in Doha.

Blinken said the US was working on a diplomatic deal that would allow civilians on both sides of the border to return to their homes. He said Israel should take steps to avoid civilian casualties and not endanger UN peacekeepers or Lebanese army troops.

Later, the head of Israel’s military said an end to the conflict with Hezbollah now looked possible.

“In the north (of Israel), there’s a possibility of reaching a sharp conclusion. We thoroughly dismantled Hezbollah’s senior chain of command,” Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi said in a video statement.