It is the highest priority for the USA to prevent further escalation in Lebanon, according to a high-ranking American government source who wishes to remain anonymous.
We have some concrete ideas that we will discuss with our allies and cooperation partners this week to find a way forward, says the source to AFP, ahead of the upcoming meeting in the UN General Assembly where many of the world's most powerful politicians gather.
If Israel were to consider sending troops into Lebanon, the USA would oppose it, according to the source.
We are working for a de-escalation, said USA's President Joe Biden about what the USA is doing, in connection with a meeting with the President of the United Arab Emirates Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan at the White House on Monday.
Full-scale war?
The situation is extremely alarming, according to the EU's Foreign Minister Josep Borrell.
I can say that we are almost in a full-scale war, said the Spaniard at a press conference ahead of the UN meeting, according to AFP.
China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi has met with Lebanon's counterpart in New York. Wang condemns last week's attacks on search parties in Lebanon as well as what he describes as "indiscriminate attacks on civilians":
No matter how the situation changes, China will always stand on the side of justice and behind our Arab brothers, including Lebanon.
"Force a solution"
France has requested an emergency meeting in the UN Security Council. The country's new Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot urges all parties to refrain from escalation towards a "catastrophe that would be devastating for all, especially civilians".
From a Nordic perspective, there are also sharper calls. Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen believes that the international community must eventually force a solution.
And it is that the international community takes over and says that this concerns not only the Middle East, but the whole world, and therefore we must force through a two-state solution, she says to Danish Radio in New York.
Jan Egeland, Secretary-General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, fears that an escalation will lead to violence and destruction on an enormous scale.
Central countries in the region and in the world at large must do everything to get all parties to stop this merciless bloodshed, he says to NTB.
