US pushing Israel to avoid war with Hezbollah

This picture taken from northern Israel shows smoke billowing during Israeli bombardment of southern Lebanon on June 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters

The United States is pressing Israel to avoid a major war against Lebanon's Hezbollah, with top American officials urging a diplomatic solution in order to prevent another Middle East crisis.

Israeli forces and Iran-backed Hezbollah are exchanging fire on a near-daily basis, and the Israeli army said last week that plans for an offensive in Lebanon were "approved and validated."

Washington is working to lower the temperature, but those efforts — which come on top of disagreements between the administrations of U.S. President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — may further add to tensions between the two leaders.

"There is increasing concern among the Biden administration that tit-for-tat violence along the Israel-Lebanon border will escalate into a full-fledged war," said Raphael Cohen, a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation.

"The stakes are significant for two reasons. First, another Israel-Lebanon war would be very destructive on both sides," Cohen said.

"Second... an Israel-Hezbollah war incurs a greater risk of escalating into a wider regional war than the Gaza war has so far. Hezbollah is the crown jewel in Iran's proxy network, so the thought is that Iran would be more likely to intervene," he said.

Eight months of cross-border violence has killed at least 481 people in Lebanon, mostly fighters but also including 94 civilians, according to an AFP tally.

Israeli authorities say at least 15 soldiers and 11 civilians have been killed in the country's north.