Middle East teeters on brink of war in Biden’s final stretch
The Biden administration is urging both sides to de-escalate, but with no Gaza cease-fire in sight and a US president in his lame-duck period, Washington has little room to maneuver.
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WASHINGTON — With some six weeks to go before Americans head to the polls, the Biden administration again finds itself frantically trying to prevent another war from erupting in the Middle East.
Lebanon is reeling from an apparent Israeli attack that targeted Hezbollah but also killed civilians in back-to-back waves of explosions that have stirred fears of retaliation and are likely to complicate US efforts to reach a cease-fire agreement on the war in Gaza.
The country’s health authorities said at least 37 people are dead and nearly 3,000 wounded from the attacks, which began Tuesday afternoon when pagers carried by Hezbollah members blew up simultaneously. Another wave of deadly blasts, this time mainly affecting hand-held radios used by the militants, struck the southern suburbs of Beirut on Wednesday.
