Australia has joined the US and key allies in urging an immediate 21-day ceasefire across the Israel-Lebanon border.

The proposal was described on Wednesday (local time) by one senior US official as an “important breakthrough” and came amid deadly fighting between Israel and Hezbollah that many fear could spill into a wider conflict.

In a statement, negotiated on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, the allies said the recent fighting was “intolerable and presents an unacceptable risk of a broader regional escalation”.

“We call for an immediate 21-day ceasefire across the Lebanon-Israel border to provide space for diplomacy,” it said.

“We call on all parties, including the governments of Israel and Lebanon, to endorse the temporary ceasefire immediately.”

US President Joe Biden said others to back the plan were the European Union, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

“We were able to generate significant support from Europe, as well as the Arab nations,” Biden said.

“It’s important this war not widen.”

Australia joins with global partners in calling for an immediate ceasefire across Lebanon-Israel border.
https://t.co/CgF0pWd39T

— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) September 26, 2024

Earlier, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said there had been “important progress” in clinching a deal for a proposed 21-day ceasefire between Israel and the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah.

“We are counting on both parties to accept it without delay, in order to protect civilian populations and allow for diplomatic negotiations to begin,” Barrot, who will travel to Lebanon later this week, earlier told the 15-member United Nations Security Council.

Israel widened its airstrikes in Lebanon on Wednesday and at least 72 people were killed, according to a Reuters compilation of Lebanese health ministry statements. The ministry earlier said at least 223 were wounded.

Israel’s military chief said a ground assault was possible, raising fears the conflict could spark a wider Middle East war.

Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon said before the meeting that Israel would welcome a ceasefire and preferred a diplomatic solution. He then told the Security Council that Iran was the nexus of violence in the region and peace required dismantling the threat.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said before the council meeting that his country supported Hezbollah and would not remain indifferent if the conflict in Lebanon spiralled.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati called on the Security Council to put pressure on Israel for “an immediate ceasefire on all fronts”. He urged it to also “guarantee the withdrawal of Israel from all the occupied Lebanese territories and the violations that are repeated on a daily basis”.

Asked if a ceasefire could be reached soon, Mikati told Reuters: “Hopefully, yes.”

We need an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon, as we need an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/V07UFfgxKJ

— Senator Penny Wong (@SenatorWong) September 26, 2024

World leaders are worried the conflict – which is running in parallel to Israel’s war in Gaza against Palestinian Hamas militants also backed by Iran – is escalating rapidly as the death toll rises in Lebanon and thousands flee their homes.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to arrive in New York on Thursday and address the UN General Assembly on Friday (local time).

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

The conflict has been costly politically for 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 Iranian-backed 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.

As many as 500,000 people may have been displaced in Lebanon, its foreign minister said. In Beirut, thousands of people displaced from southern Lebanon were sheltering in schools and other buildings.

Israeli airstrikes this week have targeted Hezbollah leaders and hit hundreds of sites deep inside Lebanon, where hundreds of thousands have fled the border region, while the group has fired barrages of rockets into Israel.

In a video message that made no comment on diplomatic efforts to secure a ceasefire, Netanyahu said Hezbollah was being hit harder than it could have imagined.

Israel has made a priority of securing its northern border and allowing the return there of some 70,000 residents displaced by near-daily exchanges of fire since war broke out in October between Israel and Hamas in Gaza on Israel’s southern border.

Lebanese hospitals have filled with the wounded since Monday, when Israeli bombing killed more than 550 people in Lebanon’s deadliest day since its civil war ended in 1990.

-with AAP