JERUSALEM
A senior US official warned Israeli officials that continuing the Israeli-Hezbollah confrontation could lead to a “wide-scale Iranian attack,” Israeli media claimed on Tuesday.
US President Joe Biden’s senior adviser Amos Hochstein told Israeli officials on Monday that a wide-scale Iranian attack on Israel would be difficult for Israeli defenses to intercept, Haaretz daily claimed in its report.
Hochstein’s visit to Israel and Lebanon came amid the Hezbollah group’s suspension of attacks against Israel on the occasion of Eid al-Adha, the largest Muslim festival, which began on Sunday.
The newspaper quoted Hochstein as saying that he hopes to use the pause in fire exchanges between the two parties to establish a framework agreement for a cease-fire in the future.
He, however, said such an agreement could not be implemented without an official cease-fire in Gaza.
The US advisor expressed hope that the Israeli army’s incursion into Rafah would be completed in two or three weeks, reducing the intensity of the conflict between Hezbollah and the Israeli army.
The Israeli government has not yet responded to Haaretz’s report.
Hochstein is currently in Beirut, meeting with Lebanese officials to discuss the Israeli-Hezbollah border dispute.
On Monday, he visited Israel where he met with top Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
Since the war in Gaza began last October, there have been daily exchanges of fire, and thousands of civilians have been displaced on both sides of the shared border.
Hochstein played a key role in Israel and Lebanon’s maritime boundary agreement, which was signed in Oct. 2022.
