By Simon Lewis and Daphne Psaledakis
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department on Wednesday warned that it would be unacceptable for Israel's military incursion in southern Lebanon to evolve into a situation similar to its invasion of the Gaza Strip.
"We cannot and must not see the situation in Lebanon turn into anything like the situation in Gaza. That would, of course, not be acceptable," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters at a regular news briefing when asked about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's comments on Tuesday.
"I'm making very clear that there should be no kind of military action in Lebanon that looks anything like Gaza and leaves a result anything like Gaza."
Netanyahu said on Tuesday in a video message directed at the people of Lebanon that Hezbollah was weaker than it had been in many years and urged Lebanese to "take back your country."
"Don't let these terrorists destroy your future any more than they've already done," Netanyahu said. "You have an opportunity to save Lebanon before it falls into the abyss of a long war that will lead to destruction and suffering like we see in Gaza. It doesn't have to be that way."
Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip has killed nearly 42,000 Palestinians since Oct. 7, 2023, according to the enclave's health ministry. It has displaced nearly all its 2.3 million people and wrought a humanitarian crisis with widespread hunger and a breakdown in healthcare and critical infrastructure.
Hamas-led militants stormed through Israeli towns and kibbutz villages near the border on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 as hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel last Oct. 8, citing solidarity with Hamas.
Israeli strikes have hit the group's stronghold in Beirut's southern suburbs on a nightly basis, and ground incursions have expanded to additional parts of Lebanon's southern border with Israel.