Published : Wednesday, 2 October, 2024 at 12:00 AM Count : 122
The US president indicated Monday that he was opposed to
Israeli ground operations in Lebanon, calling for a ceasefire as
tensions spiralled after the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan
Nasrallah.
"I'm more aware than you might know and I'm comfortable
with them stopping. We should have a ceasefire now," Biden told
reporters when asked if he was aware of Israeli plans for a limited
operation on Lebanese soil.
A few hours later, State Department
spokesman Matthew Miller said Israel had informed Washington that it was
currently conducting "limited operations targeting Hezbollah
infrastructure near the border."
And the Israeli military confirmed early Tuesday that it had indeed launched "ground raids" on villages in southern Lebanon.
It felt like deja vu all over again.
Every
time the United States calls for a negotiated solution or a ceasefire,
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seems to respond by ramping up
his military offensive.
Last week, with the ink barely dry on a
joint US-French statement on the sidelines of a top-level UN summit for a
three-week ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, Netanyahu announced
fresh air strikes against the Iran-backed militant group the very next
day.
"The Biden administration has largely been a bystander to these
events -- one that has supplied Israel with the military means to
conduct these operations but has been repeatedly caught by surprise by
its actions," wrote Brian Katulis, a senior fellow for US foreign policy
at the Middle East Institute.
On Friday at the United Nations, the
contrast was jarring: as Netanyahu authorized a strike against
Nasrallah, risking a broader regional conflict, US Secretary of State
Antony Blinken again called for all sides to choose diplomacy.
"The
question is not, does Israel have a right to deal with existential
threats to its security and enemies across its borders with the avowed
intent to destroy Israel? Of course it does.
"But the question is
what is the best way to achieve its objectives," Blinken said, echoing
the US position expressed shortly after Hamas attacked Israel on October
7 last year.
Of course, there are no tears in Washington over Nasrallah's demise. Blinken called him a "brutal terrorist" on Monday.
But
the United States has been at pains to say it was neither consulted nor
aware of Israel's plans to target him ahead of time.
It made a similar statement after Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Iran in late July in an attack blamed on Israel.
Now,
Israel clearly appears to be seeking to capitalize on its position,
having done significant damage to Hezbollah in a series of attacks, and
sending Hamas reeling in Gaza, diplomats say.
Washington meanwhile is still hoping that diplomacy will prevail, both in Gaza and Lebanon.
Diplomacy
remains "the best and only path to achieving greater stability in the
Middle East," and Washington is "committed to urgently driving these
efforts forward," Blinken said Monday.
Blinken spoke Sunday with his
French counterpart Jean-Noel Barrot, who called on Israel to avoid any
ground operation -- a call that apparently went unheeded.
The US
secretary of state also talked to Britain's David Lammy on Monday, and
held talks with counterparts from Arab states on the sidelines of a
ministerial meeting in Washington of the international coalition
battling the Islamic State group.
Aides to Blinken have long insisted
that Washington respects Israel's sovereignty, and tacitly acknowledge
that US influence on Netanyahu is limited.
Events on the ground
appear to be unfolding at a more rapid pace, and the United States is
effectively unable to intercede, meaning Israel's top military and
diplomatic ally is on the back foot, merely reacting to the crisis.
—AFP
Until now, Biden has refused to play the military aid card to
force Netanyahu's hand, other than the suspension of one delivery of
bombs in May.
The US election calendar has complicated matters, as
Vice President Kamala Harris, Biden's heir apparent, is battling for the
White House with Republican former president Donald Trump.
The Biden
administration hopes to see a Middle East peace deal reached before the
election, but few observers believe it is ready to change its strategy
so close to Election Day on November 5. -AFP