Pentagon Chief Lloyd Austin has warned Israel against escalating tensions with Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement amid the regime’s onslaught in the Gaza Strip, a report says.
Axios reported that Austin’s warning, which was made on Saturday, came amid fears that escalating tensions on the border separating Lebanon from Occupied Palestine could lead to a regional war that would draw the US further into the conflict.
According to the report, a US source said the White House asked Austin to express concern to Israel’s minister of military affairs Yoav Gallant about escalating provocations in Lebanon.
In the public readout of the Austin-Gallant call, the Pentagon said the Austin “emphasized the need to contain the conflict to Gaza and avoid regional escalation” without specifically mentioning Lebanon.
However, two informed US and Israeli sources said Austin specifically mentioned concerns about Israeli military action in Lebanon.
An Israeli source even said Austin asked Gallant for clarification about Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon and urged Israel to refrain from taking actions that could lead to an all-out war between the Israeli regime and Hezbollah fighters.
For his part, Gallant assured Austin that Tel Aviv does not seek to open a second front in Lebanon and ruled out such a scenario, according to the Israeli source.
Since the beginning of the Israeli aggression in Gaza on October 7, daily clashes have taken place between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters.
A Hezbollah officer has recently said his comrades with the resistance movement are fully prepared for any Israeli assault and have been mobilized in two regions on the border between Lebanon and the 1948 Israeli-occupied territories, as well as the occupied Golan Heights and the Galilee region.
