By Humeyra Pamuk and Simon Lewis
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. does not support the escalation between Israel and Hezbollah across the border, a senior State Department official said, adding that Washington was going to discuss “concrete ideas” with allies and partners to prevent the war from broadening.
Israel launched airstrikes against Hezbollah targets on Monday, killing 492 people and sending tens of thousands fleeing for safety in Lebanon’s deadliest day in decades, according to authorities.
Israeli officials have said the recent uptick in airstrikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon was designed to force the Iran-aligned group to agree to a diplomatic solution.
But the U.S. State Department official, briefing reporters in New York on condition of anonymity, pushed back on this Israeli position, saying President Joe Biden’s administration was focused on “reducing tensions … and breaking the cycle of strike-counterstrike.”
“I can’t recall, at least in recent memory, a period in which an escalation or intensification led to a fundamental de- escalation and led to profound stabilization of the situation,” the official said.
Asked if that is a disagreement with the Israeli stance, the U.S. official nodded.
The spiraling 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 prevent a broader war and would seek an “off ramp” to tensions, the official said.
“It’s an evolution of those discussions on which we’re trying to base some practical, concrete steps that will have good chances of reducing tensions and actually getting some traction,” the official said.
Asked if Washington believes Israel is preparing for an ground invasion of Lebanon, the U.S. official declined to answer definitively.
“We obviously do not believe that a ground invasion of Lebanon is going to contribute to reducing tensions in the region,” he said.
(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk, Simon Lewis and Kanishka Singh; Editing by Mark Porter and David Gregorio)
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