Mediators try to prevent a war between Israel and Hezbollah

American, European, and Arab mediators are pushing to prevent cross-border attacks between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah from escalating into a wider Middle East war.

This is reported by RBC-Ukraine with reference to the Associated Press (AP).

Hopes for a cease-fire in Israel's conflict with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which would calm attacks by Iran-allied Islamist militants, have not come true. The talks have reached an impasse, and US and European officials have urged the Lebanese Hezbollah group, which is far more powerful than Hamas, not to challenge Israel's military might.

Current and former diplomats have warned that the group should not count on the United States or anyone else to rein in Israeli leaders if they decide to launch an offensive against Lebanon. Instead, Hezbollah, they say, should not count on the ability of its fighters to cope with what may happen next.

On both sides of the Lebanese border, escalating attacks between Israel and Hezbollah, one of the region's best-armed fighting forces, have leveled off over the past week. While daily strikes in the border area are still ongoing, the slight shift offers hope of easing immediate fears that prompted the US to send an amphibious assault ship with a Marine Expeditionary Force to join other warships in the area in hopes of containing the wider conflict.

It is not clear who exactly - Israel or Hezbollah - decided to reduce the number of attacks so as not to provoke an Israeli invasion of Lebanon, according to Gerald Feuerstein, a former high-ranking American diplomat in the Middle East. Despite the plateau in hostilities over the past week, "it certainly seems that the Israelis are still ... preparing for some kind of conflict ... a conflict on a very different scale," he said.

According to him, "Hezbolli" sent an appeal, which in its content sounds like "don't think that you are as capable as you think."

Author - Serhii Kolomiets, 30/06/2024