White House: Fears of all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah ‘exaggerated’

By AFP 29 July 2024, 8:48 pm

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People at the scene of the deadly missile attack at a soccer field in the Druze town of Majdal Shams, in the Golan Heights, July 29, 2024. (Michael Giladi/Flash90)

WASHINGTON — The United States is confident that a wider war between Israel and Hezbollah can be avoided, despite a deadly rocket attack in the Golan Heights that killed 12 children, the White House says.

US and Israeli officials had conversations at “multiple levels” over the weekend following the attack and the risk of a full-blown conflict is “exaggerated,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby says.

“Nobody wants a broader war, and I’m confident that we’ll be able to avoid such an outcome,” Kirby says in a call with reporters.

“We all heard about this ‘all-out war’ at multiple points over the last 10 months. Those predictions were exaggerated then; quite frankly, we think they’re exaggerated now.”