The United States has urged Israel to reduce its airstrikes in and around Beirut, following concerns about the high number of civilian casualties.

Speaking on Saturday, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin expressed the U.S. government’s concern over the escalating situation.

“The number of civilian casualties has been far too high,” Austin said. “We would like to see Israel scale back some of the strikes in and around Beirut, and we would like to see a transition to negotiations that would allow civilians on both sides to return to their homes.”

The call for restraint comes as the Israeli military confirmed that its air force had targeted Hezbollah facilities in the southern Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh, a stronghold of the militant group. According to an Israeli military statement, the strikes on Saturday hit multiple Hezbollah weapons storage facilities as well as an intelligence command center.