The United States warned Israel against launching a war against Lebanon, stressing that it “supports reaching a ‘diplomatic solution’ to end the escalation on Israel’s northern border.”
American and Israeli media reported that “the American warning was made by President Joe Biden’s advisor, the American envoy to Lebanon, Amos Hochstein, during a meeting with senior officials in Israel.”
The American website “Axios” quoted informed sources as saying that “Hochstein” warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against “waging a war in Lebanon” that could expand.
The sources added that Hochstein confirmed to Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Galant, during his meeting with them separately, that “the United States does not believe that the outbreak of a wider conflict with Lebanon will achieve the goal of returning the displaced to the north,” at a time when the Israeli government announced expanding the goals of the current war to include returning its displaced citizens from the north of the country to their homes.
The US envoy said that “the outbreak of a full-scale war with Hezbollah is a risk of igniting a broader and longer-term regional conflict,” according to the sources, who also stressed that Washington “remains committed to a diplomatic solution in Lebanon, whether with a ceasefire and hostage release deal (with Hamas in Gaza) or unilaterally.”
For its part, the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported warnings from senior officials in the Israeli army and other circles of the security establishment, of “reckless steps in the north that the government is planning.”
For his part, Netanyahu told the US envoy that “citizens cannot return to their homes in northern Israel unless there is a radical change in the security situation on the border with Lebanon,” according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.
Netanyahu added: “Israel appreciates and respects the support of the Biden administration, but in the end it will do whatever is necessary to maintain its security and return the residents of the north to their homes safely.”
A statement by the Israeli Ministry of Defense stated that Galat informed Hochstein during their meeting that “the possibility of a diplomatic solution to the situation on the northern border has ended,” considering that the reason is “Hezbollah’s continued linking itself to Hamas and its refusal to end the conflict.”
Israeli government spokesman David Mancer said, “The government is committed to returning the residents of the north to their homes, and the current situation cannot continue.”
Israeli officials have been saying for months that Israel “cannot accept” the indefinite evacuation of towns on its northern border, but questions are being raised about the army’s readiness to launch a military operation in southern Lebanon while forces continue their operations in Gaza.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant told his American counterpart, Lloyd Austin, that “the chances are diminishing for a diplomatic solution to the confrontation with the Lebanese Hezbollah group, which is supported by Iran.”
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2024-09-18 17:11:18