US secretary of state Antony Blinken, in his recent trip to West Asia, conveyed concerns regarding an Israeli incursion into Lebanon while speaking to an Arab counterpart. He told the fellow diplomat that it appeared to him that Israel is intent on entering Lebanon and could launch an incursion.
US-broadcaster CNN, which first reported the development citing people familiar with the matter, said that Blinken told his Arab counterpart regarding the conflict in Gaza widening during a meeting.
“It seems that they [Israel] are very serious about going into Lebanon,” the person said. The Arab official in response reiterated what Hezbollah has been saying since Israel entered Gaza and said that Hezbollah won’t stop striking Israel until the latter stops its military operation in Gaza.
Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz warned on Tuesday that a decision on an all-out war with Hezbollah was coming soon.
Just before midnight Thursday, Israel’s army said it had “successfully intercepted a suspicious aerial target that crossed from Lebanon”. Early Friday, Lebanese official media reported fresh Israeli strikes in the country’s south.
This came after Lebanon’s powerful Hezbollah movement said it fired dozens of rockets at an Israeli barracks in northern Israel on Thursday in retaliation for a deadly air strike in south Lebanon.
One of the group’s operatives was killed in that strike, Israel said. Hezbollah claimed several other attacks on Thursday.
Hezbollah scaled up the violent rhetoric by publishing footage on Tuesday from what it said was one of its reconnaissance drones flying over northern Israel, capturing footage of the Haifa port and threatening by hinting it could attack Israel’s third-largest city.
Exchanges between Hezbollah and Israel have escalated in recent weeks and the Israeli military said Tuesday that plans for an offensive in Lebanon “were approved and validated”.
Many Israelis living along the border in the northern region have been forced out of their homes due to these cross-border attacks.
The United States has appealed for de-escalation and US envoy Amos Hochstein was sent to Lebanon to try and cool tensions. The US is also concerned, as per a report by the broadcaster, that a war with Hezbollah could overwhelm Israel’s air defences in the north — including the Iron Dome.
The potential for war continues to grow as prospects for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas diminish, according to a senior US official. If a ceasefire deal is reached, it could trigger a parallel diplomatic agreement between Israel and Hezbollah, which has been negotiated by US envoy Amos Hochstein and is expected to be implemented by the US.
If the war is averted then Hezbollah pull back almost 9.65 kilometres from the order. But Israel also seeks to destroy Hezbollah’s infrastructure in the area to prevent regrouping.
The US, according to the broadcaster, has also rebuked Israel for striking US-backed Lebanese army, rather than Hezbollah targets.
“We are achieving readiness on land and in the air. We have an obligation to change things in the North, and to ensure the safe return of our citizens to their homes, and we will find a way to achieve this,” Yoav Gallant said earlier this week at an operational assessment at the IDF’s Northern Command, the broadcaster said.
US officials are particularly concerned about the safety of thousands of American troops stationed in West Asia, who could become targets for Iran-backed proxy groups if a conflict erupts between Israel and Hezbollah, Iran’s most formidable proxy
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah’s group and Israeli forces have exchanged near-daily fire since Hamas’s October 7 attack on southern Israel triggered the Gaza war, and the bellicose talk has escalated along with the strikes.
In a televised address, Nasrallah said “no place” in Israel would “be spared our rockets” if a wider war began.
The chief of the Iran-backed group also threatened nearby Cyprus if it opened its airports or bases to Israel “to target Lebanon”.
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