On Friday morning, we reported on the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) attack on Hezbollah headquarters, the primary goal of which was the removal of Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah. The IDF and the Israeli government, it has been reported, did not notify the United States of their intentions in advance of their attack on Hezbollah headquarters in Lebanon. This begs the question: Why should they?
The United States had no advance warning of an Israeli strike in Beirut and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his Israeli counterpart as it was ongoing, a Pentagon spokesperson said on Friday.
They were the U.S. government’s first comments about an Israeli operation that defied Washington’s calls for de-escalation and a ceasefire.
“The United States was not involved in this operation and we had no advanced warning,” spokesperson Sabrina Singh told reporters.
Singh declined to say what Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told Austin about the operation and whether it targeted the Iran-backed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. The Pentagon declined to speculate on whether Nasrallah was still alive.
It’s unclear why the Pentagon should speculate as to whether Nasrallah was still alive since the United States was not involved. As for the United States not being involved, that would seem to be belaboring the obvious; although now the Biden administration is seeking again to interject itself into the conflict, albeit not in a military capacity:
The Biden administration has been seeking to contain the crisis from spiraling further. Austin has publicly warned that an all-out conflict between Israel and Hezbollah would be devastating. On Thursday, he warned that risk existed but added a diplomatic solution was still viable.
“We now face the risk of an all-out war. Another full-scale war (could) be devastating for both Israel and Lebanon,” Austin told reporters on Thursday.
The United States has, though, been moving forces into the region since last spring in case Iran — the elephant in the room — gets involved.
See Related: Central Command Moving Warships to Protect Israeli,
U.S. Forces From Iranian Attacks
Iran’s involvement would, of course, represent a whole new degree of conflict; but American diplomacy has been largely focused not on Hezbollah but on Gaza.
U.S. efforts to secure a Gaza ceasefire remain stalled after nearly a year of fighting. Iran-backed Houthi rebels continue to attack Red Sea shipping. And now, despite intense U.S.-led diplomacy, the Israel-Hezbollah conflict threatens to flare into an all-out regional war.
It’s unclear how the United States can prevent this from escalating. Any lasting peace is not dependent on the United States, nor Israel; both of those nations would happily agree on a binding peace treaty if there was any reason to believe that the Iranian proxies of Hamas and Hezbollah, and in fact Iran itself, would agree to the terms of such an agreement. That’s unlikely in the extreme, no matter what the Biden administration would prefer to believe; that leaves the extermination of Hamas and Hezbollah the only other option.
The Biden administration has been beating this drum for some time now, and Israel does not appear overly concerned about the Biden administration’s hand-wringing. Following the Oct 7th attacks, one thing that has become apparent is that the gloves are off.
See Related: Multiple Indictments Returned in Iranian Hacking Plot Against Trump Campaign
Israeli Defense Forces Target Hezbollah Leader Nasrallah,
Pound Hezbollah Central HQ in Beirut
Israel is under no obligation to inform the United States of its operational plans, against Hezbollah or anyone else — and given the disorganization and lack of competence of the Biden administration, one can scarcely blame them for playing things close to their chests.
