Diplomacy is the best way to prevent the IDF-Hezbollah conflict from sparking a broader war with Lebanon that could spill over into a regional one, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said as he hosted his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant at the Pentagon.
“Another war between Israel and Hezbollah could easily become a regional war with terrible consequences for the Middle East.
“And so diplomacy is by far the best way to prevent more escalation,” he said.
“We are urgently seeking a diplomatic agreement that restores lasting calm to Israel's northern border and enables civilians to return safely to their homes on both sides of the Israel-Lebanon border,” he said.
“I am extremely concerned about the rise in rocket attacks on Israel's north from Lebanese Hezbollah and the recent surge in tensions,” Austin said. “Hezbolalh’s provocations threatened to drag the Israeli and Lebanese people into a war that they do not want.”
Austin welcomed Gallant to the Pentagon with an honor guard, as the Defense Minister was on his third day of a visit to the capitol. He arrived at a critical moment when it appeared increasingly likely a Third Lebanon War could break out.
It’s Gallant's second such visit since the Hamas-led invasion of Israel on October 7, in which over 1,200 people were killed, and another 251 were seized as hostages.
Hezbollah and the IDF have engaged in cross-border violence since October 7. Israel and the US had hoped that a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal would provide a window by which to also restore calm along Israel’s northern border. The violence there has been so intense that some 60,000 Israelis evacuated in October have not yet been able to safely return home.
But as a hostage deal remained elusive, so has a diplomatic resolution to the violence in the north, as Israel remained engaged in battle with two Iranian proxies, Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Canada says to jump ship
Canada on Tuesday reiterated a call for its citizens to leave Lebanon while they can, stating that the security situation in the country was becoming increasingly volatile and unpredictable due to the conflict between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah.
“My message to Canadians has been clear since the beginning of the crisis in the Middle East: it is not the time to travel to Lebanon. And for Canadians currently in Lebanon, it is time to leave while commercial flights remain available," Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said in a statement.
UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland told the UN Security Council in New York that he was seriously concerned about the risk of escalation between Israel and Hezbollah.
“I am encouraging all sides to immediately take urgent steps to de-escalate the situation,” Wennesland said.
Gallant told Austin, “Today, we are at a crossroads that will impact the entire Middle East. I am here to discuss the ways to achieve our common goals – ensuring the security of the State of Israel and projecting the powerful ties between our countries.”
“In Gaza, we must work to ensure the return of 120 hostages – with no exception.
We must end the terrorist regime of Hamas,” he said.
“In the north, we are determined to establish security – changing reality on the ground and bringing our communities home safely,” Gallant explained. “We are working closely together to achieve an agreement, but we must also discuss readiness for every possible scenario.”
At the 21st Herzliya Conference, Israeli National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said that US envoy Amos Hochstein was leading efforts to reach a diplomatic initiative and was in very close contact with the Israelis and Lebanese government officials.
“He's optimistic” that a diplomatic arrangement is possible once the IDF finishes the intense phase of the Rafah fighting, Henegbi said.
“If we won't reach an arrangement through diplomatic means, then everybody understands that we'll need to achieve it in different means. But for now, we are focusing on the diplomatic arena” as the best way to restore calm in the north, he stressed.
We must achieve our goals
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited IDF reservists stationed in the north to thank them for their service, stressing, “We must achieve our goals, and our goals are victory.”
Gallant has been particularly concerned by the very public dispute between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Biden administration over a slow walking of arms to Israel, fearing that it could give Israel’s enemies the impression that Israel did not have US backing for a war against Hezbollah.
“The eyes of both our enemies and our friends are on the relationship between the U.S. and Israel,” Gallant told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken when the two men met on Monday.
“We must resolve the differences between us quickly and stand together – this is how we will achieve our goals and weaken our enemies,” Gallant said.
Blinken, according to the State Department, “reaffirmed the US’s ironclad commitment to Israel’s security.”
“He also underscored the importance of avoiding further escalation of the conflict and reaching a diplomatic resolution that allows both Israeli and Lebanese families to return to their homes,” the State Department said.
Austin stressed the close ties between the two countries in his meeting with Gallant. The two men sat across from each other with their teams. The wooden table between them was adorned with small Israeli and American flags, and larger ones hung on the wall.
Austin said he has visited Israel four times since taking office and twice since October 7. He has spoken with Gallant by phone more than 50 times.
US President Joe Biden, he said, has also approved the provision of $14 billion in military assistance for Israel, Austin stated.
In April, the US helped defend Israel against an Iranian attack, in which 99% of the Iranian drones and missiles failed to reach their targets, Austin said.
Israel still faces “very real and very dangerous threats from Iran and its terrorist partners and proxies, including Hezbollah, the Houthis, and of course, Hamas,” he said.
The “US will always support Israel's right to defend itself,” he said, adding, “You can see that profound commitment yet again in our recent agreement on a third squadron of F-35s for Israel,”
Austin stressed the "US will always ensure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself.”
Reuters contributed to this report.