“Israel’s gotta do what they gotta do,” a US Defense Department official told Politico, which reported that Washington had telegraphed to Hezbollah that it can’t rein in Israel if the situation escalates.
The Biden administration is seeking to prevent a full-fledged war between Israel and Hezbollah, which began launching near-daily attacks on the north following Hamas’s October 7 onslaught on southern Israel.
Among US concerns is that a major Israeli offensive would pull in Hezbollah’s backer Iran, complicating efforts to defend the Jewish state.
Hochstein was in Lebanon last week to call for the “urgent” de-escalation of cross-border exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and Israel. He also visited Israel and held talks in Jerusalem with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as opposition leaders.
During his meeting with Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally, Hochstein reportedly asked for a message to be sent to the terror group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, that the US does not control Israel.
He advised Hezbollah to indirectly negotiate with Israel, rather than scale up border tensions, Axios said in a report that cited a US official, an Israeli official and a Western diplomat close to the matter. READ MORE
