Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu Will Talk To US President Joe Biden

JAKARTA - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden will communicate today.

CNN reports Netanyahu has instructed his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant not to leave for the US on Tuesday, October 8, where he is scheduled to meet Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

Netanyahu said he wanted to talk to Biden first.

Netanyahu's topic of conversation with Biden is not yet known. Israel is still attacking Lebanon targeting Hezbollah.

Most recently, Hezbollah fighters clashed with the Israeli military near the southern Lebanese border town of Naqura.

"There was a shootout between the enemy and the resistance group (Hezbollah) in the Al-Labbouneh area near the city of Naqura," the Lebanese National News Agency (NNA) reported by CNN, Wednesday, October 9.

Hezbollah previously said its troops managed to repulse Israeli attacks on the region at around 5 a.m. local time.

The Islamic Resistance Mujahidin targeted them with artillery shells and rockets and carried out direct attacks, leading them to retreat, the group said.

The Israeli military told CNN there was an ongoing counter-terrorism activity in Lebanon but had not yet commented on the incident specifically.

On Tuesday, the Israeli military said it had expanded its operations to southwest Lebanon.

Landstrikes in southern Lebanon, which began on October 1, previously focused on the eastern part of the border region.