Hezbollah attack on Tel Aviv 'deeply concerning': US

The United States said Wednesday that a missile launched by Hezbollah in Lebanon at Tel Aviv in Israel was "deeply concerning," but that a diplomatic route remains to avoid "all-out war."

"It's certainly deeply concerning, obviously to the Israelis, of course, but also to us," White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told CNN.

"There is still time and space for a diplomatic solution here to de-escalate the tensions and to prevent an all-out war."

Speaking separately on NBC's "Today Show," Secretary of State Antony Blinken also urged a diplomatic solution to the conflict, which was unleashed after Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel from Gaza.

"What everyone wants is to have a secure environment in which people can simply return home, kids can go back to school... the best way to get that is not through war, not through escalation, it would be through a diplomatic agreement."

Discussing the stalled ceasefire negotiations between Hamas and Israel -- which the United States is mediating along with Egypt and Qatar -- Blinken said: "we have a piece of paper, an agreement. It's got 18 paragraphs -- 15 of those paragraphs have been agreed between Hamas and Israel."