Warning that an Israel-Hezbollah war is not in anyone’s interests, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was set to arrive in Israel on Tuesday, as part of his efforts to secure a diplomatic solution by which the Iranian proxy group would withdraw from the northern border.
“It is not in the interest of anyone, Israel, Lebanon, Hezbollah for that matter, to see this escalate,” Blinken told reporters before departing Saudi Arabia for Tel Aviv on Monday night.
“Israelis have been clear with us that they want to find a diplomatic way forward, a diplomatic way forward that would create the kind of security that allows Israelis to return home,” Blinken said.
In Jerusalem, government spokesman Eylon Levy said “Hezbollah is dragging Lebanon into an unnecessary war, the war that Hamas began.
“The situation in the North is intolerable now,” with Hezbollah shelling the northern border, preventing some 80,000 Israelis from living in their homes, Levy said.
“We are now at the fork in the road, either Hezbollah backs away or we will push it away. There is now a very narrow window of diplomatic opportunity for the world to secure the enforcement of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and push Hezbollah away from the border. Hezbollah’s systematic aggression has rendered that security council resolution null and void,” he said.
Both Israel and the US have hoped that it can fully implement 1701, which forbids the presence of non-state actors, such as Hezbollah, from situating itself along Israel’s border.
According to CNN, Blinken has gone so far as to send back-channel messages to Iran about the importance of calm along the Israel-Lebanon border.
He spoke as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Economy Minister Nir Barkat traveled to the northern border city of Kiryat Shmona, to visit the IDF 769th ‘Hiram’ Brigade close to the border.
The prime minister issued a warning to Hezbollah not to escalate the cross-border violence any further, recalling the destruction the IDF leveled against it during the Second Lebanon War in 2006.
“Hezbollah made a big mistake with us in 2006, and it is also doing so now. It thought that we were like ‘spider’s cobwebs’. Suddenly it sees what kind of ‘spider’. It sees great force here, the unity of the people, the determination to do everything necessary to restore security to the North.
Netanyahu reiterated that Israel will do everything to restore that security“ and allow your families – because many of you are from here – to return home in safety. We are not to be trifled with.”
Separately, Blinken, before leaving Saudi Arabia, said he spoke with regional allies about the importance of halting Houthi attacks against ships in the Red Sea as an act of protest against the Gaza war.
“These attacks... are a threat to everyone,” he said, explaining that the attacks are raising prices on basic commodities. “If it continues, there have to be consequences, so our strong preference is that the Houthis get the message .. that this has to stop."