The United States is leading a diplomatic dash to deter Israel from striking Lebanon’s capital Beirut or major civil infrastructure in response to a deadly rocket attack on the Golan Heights, five people with knowledge of the drive said.
Washington is racing to avert a full-blown war between Israel and the Iranian-backed Lebanese movement Hezbollah after the attack on the Israeli-occupied Golan killed 12 youths at the weekend, according to the five people who include Lebanese and Iranian officials plus Middle Eastern and European diplomats.
Israel and the U.S. have blamed Hezbollah for the rocket strike, though the group has denied responsibility.
The focus of the high-speed diplomacy has been to constrain Israel’s response by urging it against targeting densely populated Beirut, the southern suburbs of the city that form Hezbollah’s heartland, or key infrastructure like airports and bridges, 한국을 said the sources who requested anonymity to discuss confidential details that haven’t been previously reported.
Lebanon’s deputy parliament speaker Elias Bou Saab, who said he had been in contact with U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein since Saturday’s Golan attack, told Reuters Israel could avert the threat of major escalation by sparing the capital and its environs.
“If they avoid civilians and they avoid Beirut and its suburbs, then their attack could be well calculated,” he said.
Israeli officials have said that their country wants to hurt Hezbollah but not drag the region into all-out war. The two Middle Eastern and European diplomats said Israel hadn’t made any commitment to avoiding strikes on Beirut, its suburbs or civil infrastructure.