As Biden Pushes for Truce in Gaza, Tensions Rise in Lebanon

Even as the Biden administration renewed its push for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel threatened tougher military action against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Two days after the militant group launched a barrage of rockets and exploding drones from Lebanon into northern Israel, igniting several wildfires, Mr. Netanyahu visited soldiers and firefighters in the area and said the Israeli military was ready to strike.

“Whoever thinks he can hurt us and we will respond by sitting on our hands is making a big mistake,” he said, according to the Israeli government. “We are prepared for very intense action in the north.”

Against the backdrop of escalating tensions on the Israel-Lebanon border, the C.I.A. director, William J. Burns, met on Wednesday with top Qatari and Egyptian officials in the latest effort to broker a deal to end the fighting in Gaza and free the hostages taken captive during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7.

Mr. Burns met in Doha with the Qatari prime minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, and the chief of Egypt’s General Intelligence Service, Abbas Kamel, according to an official briefed on the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door encounter.