NEW YORK — The United States, France and several Arab nations were among the countries that on Wednesday jointly called for a 21-day cease-fire deal to avert a wider conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

       The diplomatic push for a temporary halt in fighting comes as Israel’s military chief told soldiers to prepare for a possible ground incursion into Lebanon. Biden administration officials, briefing reporters under ground rules of anonymity, said they expected that the Israeli and Lebanese governments would accept the deal “in the coming hours.”