WASHINGTON, September 25. /TASS/. US President Joe Biden said in an interview with ABC television that an all-out war is possible in the Middle East.

"An all-out war is possible, but I think there's also the opportunity," he said. "We are still in play to have a settlement that could fundamentally change the whole region."

"The Arab world very much wants to have a settlement," Biden went on to say. "They're willing to make arrangements with Israel and alliances if Israel changes some policies."

The US president urged a two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"Ultimately, it needs to happen. There's a way to do it, and they have a possibility," he said.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7, 2023, when Hamas militants staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from Gaza, killing residents of Israeli border settlements and taking about 250 hostages, including women, children and the elderly. Hamas described its attack as retaliation for the aggressive actions taken by Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. In response, Israel declared a total siege of the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians before the crisis, following with air strikes on Gaza and some parts of Lebanon and Syria before starting a ground operation in the Palestinian enclave.

Against this background, tensions continue to rise on the Lebanese-Israeli border. Since October 8, 2023, ongoing cross-border strikes on Israel from Lebanon’s territory have prompted return fire from Israeli forces, who, according to military reports, are targeting Hezbollah sites. To date, approximately 80,000 people have been evacuated from northern Israel.