US ‘confident’ of avoiding wider Israel-Hezbollah war

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

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 said.

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

Regional tensions are soaring after the attack that Israel and the United States have blamed on Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group.

Hezbollah evacuates positions ahead of expected Israel raids: source close to group

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to deliver a “severe response” on Monday after he visited the site of the attack in Majdal Shams.

Kirby said the latest attack should not have a bearing on talks for a ceasefire in Gaza, where Israel is carrying out a military offensive against the Iran-backed Hamas Palestinian group.

“We don’t see any indications at this point in time here, on Monday morning, that there’s going to be a significant impact,” Kirby said.

The Pentagon said Monday that US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant, discussing the Majdal Shams attack and “threats still facing Israel from a range of Iranian-backed terrorist groups, including Lebanese Hezbollah.”

The two officials talked about “the opportunity to finalize a hostage and ceasefire deal in Gaza,” as well as efforts to reach “a diplomatic solution in the north that stops all attacks and allows citizens on both sides of the Israel-Lebanon border to return home safely,” the Pentagon said in a statement.