Washington has “grown extremely concerned” that the recent escalation between Hezbollah and the Israeli occupation in recent days will lead to an “all-out war,” Axios reported.
According to US officials, President Joe Biden’s administration is “scrambling” to prevent a larger-scale war between the Resistance in Lebanon and Israel.
The news outlet explained that the Biden administration has cautioned the Israeli government against the notion of “a limited war” in Lebanon, warning that such an event would involve other actors, including Iran.
Axios affirmed that the US is worried about Israeli officials dragging the occupation into a war with the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon – Hezbollah, “or getting dragged into one.”
Moreover, the White House has emphasized that a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip is “the only thing that would significantly de-escalate the tensions” on the Lebanese-Palestinian border. This has been reiterated by top Hezbollah officials for months, as the Resistance insists on continuing its operations in support of the Palestinian people until the war on Gaza ends.
A larger-scale war with Hezbollah is expected to be detrimental to the Israeli occupation, due to the faction’s advanced military capabilities, especially in terms of its precision missile arsenal and war-hardened special forces. Both US and Israeli officials are aware of this, but recent escalation by the Israeli occupation, particularly after a Hezbollah leader, Talib Sami Abdallah, was assassinated on Tuesday, has further ignited tensions in the North.
The assassination led to an urgent phone call between US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant. The news outlet also reported that the Commander-in-Chief of the Lebanese Armed Forces will visit US officials at the White House and the Pentagon next week.
“We are concerned about an increase in activity in the north. We don’t want this to escalate to a broad regional conflict and we urge de-escalation,” deputy spokesperson Sabrina Singh told reporters following the call.
