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Washington: US, European and Arab mediators are pressing to keep stepped-up cross-border attacks between Israel and Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah militants from spiralling into a wider Middle East war that the world has feared for months.
Iran and Israel traded threats on the weekend of what Iran said would be an “obliterating” war over Hezbollah.
A Lebanese family stands next to a destroyed building that were hit by an Israeli airstrike, in Aita al-Shaab, a border village.Credit: AP
Hopes are lagging for a ceasefire in Israel’s conflict with Hamas in Gaza that would calm attacks by Hezbollah and other Iranian-allied militias. American and European diplomats and other officials are delivering warnings to Hezbollah – far stronger than Hamas but seen as overconfident – about taking on the military might of Israel, current and former diplomats say.
The Americans and Europeans are warning the group it should not count on the United States or anyone else being able to hold off Israeli leaders if they decide to execute battle-ready plans for an offensive into Lebanon.
On both sides of the Lebanese border, escalating strikes between Israel and Hezbollah, one of the region’s best-armed fighting forces, appeared at least to level off this week. While daily strikes still pound the border area, the slight shift offered hope of easing immediate fears.
Despite this past week’s plateauing of hostilities, Gerald Feierstein, a former senior US diplomat in the Middle East said, “it certainly seems the Israelis are still ... arranging themselves in the expectation that there will be some kind of conflict ... an entirely different magnitude of conflict.”
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The message being delivered to Hezbollah is “don’t think that you’re as capable as you think you are,” he said.
Beginning the day after Hamas’ October 7 attacks on Israel triggered the war in Gaza, Hezbollah has launched rockets into northern Israel and vowed to continue until a ceasefire takes hold. Israel has hit back, with the violence forcing tens of thousands of civilians from the border in both countries. Attacks intensified this month after Israel killed a top Hezbollah commander and Hezbollah responded with some of its biggest missile barrages.