US officials have expressed concern that an all-out war is on the horizon between Israel and Lebanon but also said that the recent escalation could push Hezbollah to a deal that would allow civilians on both sides of Israel and Lebanon’s border to return home.
According to a report in Axios, US officials said that the Biden administration hopes to use growing Israeli military pressure on Hezbollah to push them towards agreeing on a deal.
In recent days, the risk of an all-out war with Lebanon has risen, following Israeli air strikes on southern Lebanon and explosions of pagers and walkie-talkies around the country which killed scores of people.
On Friday, an Israeli airstrike on Beirut killed Hezbollah’s top military commander, Ibrahim Aqil, as well as 15 other leaders and fighters. Some of them were identified as members the elite Radwan force.
Israeli officials have said their increasing attacks against Hezbollah are not intended to lead to war but are rather an attempt to reach "de-escalation through escalation".
US officials told Axios they recognise Israel’s "rationale" but emphasised that it was an "extremely difficult calibration" that could easily go out of control and lead to an all out war.
US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin and Biden’s advisers Brett McGurk and Amos Hochstein discussed the matter with their Israeli counterparts in several calls this week.
A US official said that one of the key messages from the call was that "we want to keep a path open to a diplomatic resolution and therefore don't want the Israelis to take steps that will close such a path", Axios reported.
US officials have also said that they have limited influence on Israel’s military decisions, stating that the escalations could easily and quickly turn into a full war.
The Biden administration has called on Israel not to launch a ground invasion or use wide-ranging air strikes in civilian areas which would worsen the already tense situation in Lebanon, adding that this could shut down all diplomatic efforts.
"We have disagreements with the Israelis on tactics and how you measure escalation risk," McGurk said on Friday, adding that it is a very concerning situation.
The comments come as Israeli fighter jets carried out several airstrikes on Saturday, with the Israeli army spokesperson saying that 400 rocket launchers with thousands of launching barrels were attacked.
Lebanon’s acting prime minister Najib Mikati later announced on Saturday that he is cancelling his trip to the UN General Assembly in New York set to take place next week over the tense situation.