Published 1 October 2024 at 16.22
Foreign. The White House has secretly given the green light to Israel's military campaign in Lebanon — despite the US publicly calling on both Israel and Hezbollah to seek a ceasefire. This is reported by Politico and refers to sources with insight into the situation.
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In the past week, Israel has carried out intensive bombing in Lebanon, where large parts of Hezbollah's leadership is said to have been eliminated.
At the same time, a «limited ground offensive» is also underway in the country's northern border areas. The ongoing attacks have resulted in over 1,000 people, many of them civilians, losing their lives and over a million people being forced to flee.
Before these attacks, thousands of people in Lebanon were subjected to coordinated explosions, which were reportedly carried out by Israeli intelligence in preparation for a large-scale attack on Hezbollah.
Despite these actions, US President Joe Biden repeated on Monday his public demands for a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
But according to Politico, the White House was briefed in mid-September on Israel's military strategy and gave its approval to it through two senior advisers to President Biden, Amos Hochstein and Brett McGurk. This settlement came despite opposition from some parts of the Pentagon, the State Department and the intelligence community, who expressed concern that the conflict could escalate into a larger war that could draw the United States directly in.
Hezbollah, which backs the Palestinians, has vowed to stop rocket attacks across the border only after a ceasefire is reached in Gaza.
The US hopes, according to the sources cited by Politico, that the conflict with Hamas and Hezbollah can somehow be separated. According to US officials, a confrontation in Lebanon could limit Iran's regional influence, as Iran supports both of these groups. Despite this, the US does not want to publicly support Israel's campaign because the strategy could have unwanted consequences. Therefore, Washington continues to officially call for restraint and diplomacy, according to the sources.
A high-ranking American official, quoted by Politico, comments on the situation as follows:
— One does not rule out the other. The US may want to see diplomacy while supporting Israel's larger goal against Hezbollah.