US official tells ToI: We understand Israeli desire for limited Lebanon incursion, but concerned about mission creep

A US official tells The Times of Israel that the Biden administration understands and accepts what Israel is trying to accomplish with a limited ground incursion into Lebanon.

Israeli officials have told their US counterparts that the goal of the limited operation is to remove Hezbollah positions along Israel’s northern border, creating the conditions for a diplomatic agreement under which the terror group’s forces would be pushed back beyond the Litani River, in line with UN Security Council resolution, an Israeli official says.

The US official accepts the Israeli logic but says Washington is still concerned that the IDF will get bogged down in Lebanon or be drawn to expand the mission once it’s already in motion.

The US official notes that Israel is also concerned about such mission creep.

Another US official speaking to The Times of Israel points to how Israel also framed its 1982 invasion into Lebanon as a “limited” incursion, but it turned into an 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon.

State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a briefing earlier today: “We recognize that, at times, military pressure can enable diplomacy. That’s true. It is also true that military pressure can lead to miscalculation. It can lead to unintended consequences.”