US officials insist efforts to calm Lebanon front aren't stalled

U.S. officials have insisted that their diplomatic efforts to contain the confrontations between Israel and Hezbollah are not stalled.

“We have a diplomatic process under way,” a senior administration official told reporters according to the Wall Street Journal.

“We’re in fairly intensive consultations with the Israelis, Lebanese and others,” the official added.

“We fully support Israel and the defense of its national security interests … against groups like Hezbollah,” the senior administration official went on to say.

Israeli forces and Iran-backed Hezbollah are exchanging cross-border fire on a near-daily basis, and the Israeli army said last week that plans for an offensive in Lebanon were "approved and validated."

Eight months of cross-border violence has killed at least 481 people in Lebanon, mostly fighters but also including 94 civilians, according to an AFP tally.

Israeli authorities say at least 15 soldiers and 11 civilians have been killed in Israel's north.

The fighting has also displaced tens of thousands of residents on both sides of the border and Israel has repeatedly threatened a military campaign to push Hezbollah away.