IDF preparing for possible ground invasion in Lebanon as hundreds of thousands displaced by Israeli strikes

The French embassy in Lebanon said in a statement that an 87-year-old French citizen living near the coastal city of Tyre was killed on Monday after the building in which he was living collapsed following a “powerful explosion” nearby.

The statement said no other French citizens were known to have been killed.

Speaking today at meeting with G20 leaders, State Secretary Antony Blinken reiterated that the U.S. continues to push for diplomatic solutions in the Middle East.

"We’re intensely engaged with a number of partners to de-escalate tensions in Lebanon and to work to get a cease-fire agreement that would have so many benefits for all concerned," he said.

The group was gathered at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City, where Blinken also spoke about the growing conflict in the region. He said the Americans were "working tirelessly with partners to avoid a full blown war."

"The best answer is diplomacy, and our coordinated efforts are vital to preventing further escalation and to paving the path to greater peace and stability," Blinken said.

Videos show the impact of Hezbollah rockets in northern Israel, where a home was partially destroyed.

Roughly two miles away from the house in Safed, people shared video of a hillside that was peppered with explosions as other rockets struck close to a highway in the city of Rosh Pina.

A new round of sanctions from the U.S. will focus on "illicit trade to Syria and East Asia" that provides support to Hezbollah and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the State Department announced today.

These sanctions will target four entities and a Syrian national named Luay al-Mallah. According to the Treasury Department, al-Mallah has been assisting his brother's shipping business, which allegedly transports crude oil and liquid petroleum gas to “support Iran’s malign activities.”

Additionally, four vessels connected to the sanctions have been blocked, both departments said.

Bradley T. Smith, acting undersecretary for the Treasury's terrorism intelligence, said that the sale of fossil fuels are used to fund Iran's IRGC and Hezbollah.

The IDF said that sirens are sounding in the city of Eilat, a port city in southern Israel, after it identified two unmanned aerial vehicles.

One of the drones was intercepted by the IDF, the military said, but another appeared to have fallen near Eilat.

Israel's emergency services, the Magen David Adom, said one 28-year-old was treated for "abrasions to his hands." His condition was mild and did not require hospitalization, the MDA added.

Middle Eastern countries want to have peace with Israel, President Biden said today during an appearance on ABC's "The View."

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

Israel would have to make policy changes, Biden said, repeating his prior statements that he has many disagreements with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. One of those changes would be a deal on an independent Palestinian state.

"There needs to be a two-state solution, ultimately," Biden said. "It needs to happen ... we have a possibility, I don't want to exaggerate it, but a possibility that if we can deal with a cease-fire in Lebanon that it can move into dealing with the West Bank."

"Hundreds of thousands" of Lebanese residents are moving "in all directions," the International Rescue Committee's Global Emergency Director Bob Kitchen told NBC News.

Different numbers accounting for internally displaced civilians have emerged in the last few days, following the first day of heavy bombing in southern Lebanon. Earlier today, the International Organization for Migration estimated there were more than 90,000 "newly" displaced people, not accounting for the tens of thousands who had fled over the months of conflict.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib estimated yesterday that, since Israel's latest offensive, the number of people displaced was likely “approaching half a million.”

While many have fled their homes to shelters, others are staying in hotels or with family and friends. The United Nations reported that among the displaced are thousands who have left Lebanon to seek shelter in Syria.

Laila Taha, the accountability coordinator for international NGO Mercy Corps, said it took her parents 17 hours to make the 70-mile drive from their hometown of Nabatieh, in southern Lebanon, to a city in the north, as they joined the thousands of Lebanese fleeing a barrage of Israeli airstrikes.

"I heard from my friends, from my family, they were bombing on the highway, like it was smoke everywhere, and they couldn't even at some point see," Taha said. "It was very bad on the highways, and very risky for them."

Her family and friends were among the lucky ones. She heard stories that some people had heart attacks or car accidents on the way north. Taha added, "it was terrible for most people."

Her family is now in a hotel in the northern city of Jbeil, also known as Byblos, while they look for housing in nearby Beirut. Taha said that people she knows still in the south tell her the streets look unrecognizable.

It's painful to think of all "the memories that will be lost," Taha told NBC News. Everyone she knows is scattered around Lebanon, adding to the pain of having to uproot her life in just moments.

"It's very hard to leave your hometown," Taha said. "It's very hard to leave the place that you live in."