Will Israel heed Joe Biden’s warning not to launch a ground offensive in Lebanon? He seems doubtful in the face of the impotence of USA to influence its ally since the beginning of the war in Gaza.
The American president hinted this Monday that he is against a Israeli ground operation in Lebanon and called for a ceasefire, amid extreme tension after Israel killed Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah.
“I’m more aware than you think and I agree with them stopping. We should have a ceasefire now,” Biden told reporters when asked if he is aware of Israeli ground incursion plans.
A few hours later, the State Department confirmed that the Israelis told them that they were “currently carrying out limited ground operations directed at infrastructure Hezbollah near the border.”
A familiar scene. Every time the United States talks about diplomacy or calls for a ceasefire, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahuseems to respond by intensifying the offensive.
Last Wednesday, the United States and France They jointly called for a 21-day ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. The next day, Netanyahu announced more attacks against the Iranian-backed Lebanese Islamist movement.
In the UN General Assemblythe contrast was striking: while the Israeli prime minister authorized a devastating attack against Nasrallah on Friday, the head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, once again called for a diplomatic solution.
“Israel has the right to defend itself, but the way it does so matters,” he said at a press conference. He has been saying this since the bloody attack by the Palestinian movement Hamas against Israel on October 7.
Take advantage
Washington doesn’t cry the death of the Hezbollah leaderwhom he considers a “brutal terrorist”, but immediately clarified that he was not involved nor had he been informed of the attack beforehand.
The same thing happened after the death of the political leader of Hamas Ismail Haniyeh on July 31 in an attack in Iran attributed to Israel.
Israel is trying to take every possible advantage, considerably weakening the Lebanese Islamist movement and facing a defeated Hamas in Gaza, says a diplomatic source.
Despite the headwind, Washington is betting on diplomacy.
“Diplomacy remains the best and only path to achieving greater stability in the Middle East and the United States remains determined to advance these efforts with urgency” in search of a diplomatic solution in Lebanon and a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, Blinken said.
The latter met on Sunday with his French counterpart Jean-Noël Barrot, who since Beirut urged Israel on Monday to “refrain from any ground incursion into Lebanon,” apparently without response.
He also spoke to Britain’s David Lammy on Monday morning, and to Arab ministers on the sidelines of a ministerial meeting in Washington of the coalition against the group. Islamic State (IS).
His entourage assures that Washington does not dictate to Israel, a sovereign state, its conduct in the war, but recognizes between the lines a limited room for maneuver with Netanyahu.
Events continue without the United States being able to do much.
Joe Biden suspended a bomb delivery in May but has generally refused to use arms pressure on Israel.
The American political calendar doesn’t help either. While the vice president Kamala Harris While campaigning against former President Donald Trump in the November 5 election, the administration is desperate to reach a Middle East deal before the election.
The goal is to avoid the impression of chaos, but few observers anticipate a change in strategy so close to the elections.
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