The United States does not support escalation between Israeli forces and Hezbollah on the Israel-Lebanon border, a senior State Department official said, adding that Washington would discuss “concrete ideas” with allies and partners to prevent the war from escalating.
Israel launched air strikes on Hezbollah targets on Monday (23), killing 492 people and sending tens of thousands fleeing in Lebanon’s deadliest day in decades, officials said.
Israeli officials said the recent increase in airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon was designed to force the Iran-aligned group to agree to a diplomatic solution.
But the US State Department official, briefing reporters in New York on condition of anonymity, rejected that Israeli position, saying President Joe Biden’s administration was focused on “reducing tensions … and breaking the cycle of attack-counterattack.”
“I cannot recall, at least in recent memory, a period where an escalation or intensification led to a fundamental de-escalation and led to a profound stabilization of the situation,” the official said.
Asked if this was a disagreement with the Israeli position, the US official nodded.
The escalating conflict over Israel’s northern border with Lebanon is a focus for Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly this week. Washington had “concrete ideas” to avoid a wider war and would seek an “exit ramp” from tensions, the official said.
“It’s an evolution of those discussions that we’re trying to base some practical, concrete steps on that will have a good chance of reducing tensions and actually gaining some traction,” the official said.
Asked whether Washington believes Israel is preparing for a ground invasion of Lebanon, the US official declined to answer definitively.
“Obviously, we do not believe that a ground invasion of Lebanon will contribute to reducing tensions in the region,” he said.
This content was originally published in US tries to reduce risk of escalation in the Middle East, says American diplomat on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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