The United States would like Israel to scale back the number of strikes on Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, and its surroundings due to the high number of civilian casualties, according to US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. “We’d like to see Israel scale back on some of the strikes it’s taking, especially in and around Beirut. And we’d like to see things transition to some sort of negotiation that will allow civilians on both sides of the border to return to their homes,” said the Pentagon chief at the G7 defense meeting in Naples, Italy. Strikes on UN peacekeepers Austin also reported that he ad…