US: ‘Additional military ops’ not the best way to prevent Israel-Hezbollah escalation
White House notes its involvement in intensive diplomatic push to stave off war, stresses ‘Israel has a right to defend itself’ when asked about exploding mobile devices in Lebanon
The US remains involved in intensive diplomatic efforts to prevent an escalation of the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said on Wednesday.
His remarks came after handheld radios used by Hezbollah detonated on Wednesday across Lebanon, a day after similar a similar attack on pagers carried by the Iran-backed terror group’s operatives. Hezbollah has blamed the blasts on Israel, which has not officially commented.
At least 20 people were killed and 450 wounded in Wednesday’s blasts, according to the Lebanese health ministry. An Israeli television report said Jerusalem believes the death toll to be higher than reported, with Hezbollah’s elite Radwan unit hit hard by the two days of attacks.
The death toll from Tuesday’s blasts stood at 12, including two children, Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad said on Wednesday. Tuesday’s attack also wounded nearly 3,000 people, including many Hezbollah fighters and the Iranian ambassador to Beirut.
Kirby said the US was not involved in the blasts, reiterating previous statements from American officials, while warning all sides against an escalation.
“We still don’t want to see an escalation of any kind. We don’t believe that the way to solve where we’re at in this crisis is by additional military operations at all,” Kirby told reporters.
Asked if Israel was adhering to international humanitarian law following the blasts on pagers and walkie-talkies in Lebanon, Kirby replied: “As we have said from the very beginning, Israel has a right to defend itself.”
“How they do so matters to us, and we don’t shy away from having those kinds of conversations with the Israelis as appropriate,” he said, without confirming Israeli involvement.
Sources said on Wednesday that senior diplomats from the United States, Britain, Germany, France and Italy will meet on Thursday in Paris to discuss the spiraling tensions in the region.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will join his counterparts from Washington’s allies in the French capital, after holding talks in Cairo on the possibility of a ceasefire-hostage deal between Israel and Hamas.
During his visit, aimed at salvaging stalled negotiations mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the United States to end the war in the Gaza Strip, Blinken said a ceasefire in the enclave would be the best way to stop violence from spreading across the Middle East.
Asked Wednesday whether the blasts targeting Hezbollah will harm the ongoing hostage talks between Israel and Hamas, Kirby said it was too early to tell, while lamenting that “we aren’t any closer to [a deal] now than we were even a week ago.”
Israel has engaged in near-daily fighting with Hezbollah since the Lebanese terror organization began launching attacks a day after its ally Hamas’s October 7 massacres, during which 1,200 were killed and 251 taken hostage to Gaza.
So far, the skirmishes between Israel and Hezbollah have resulted in 26 civilian deaths on the Israeli side, as well as the deaths of 20 IDF soldiers and reservists. There have also been several attacks from Syria, without any injuries.
Hezbollah has named 460 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria. Another 79 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier, and dozens of civilians have also been killed.
