During a recent interview, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken briefly brought up Lebanon when asked about pre-emptive strikes by Israel.
Blinken was asked if the US opposed a preemptive strike by Israel, as has been discussed by some Israeli officials, to which he answered, “The Israelis have been very clear with us, and we share this view: No one wants a second or third front, including when it comes to Lebanon – northern Israel, southern Lebanon. That’s not in anyone’s interest, and that’s exactly why we’ve sent a very strong message to try to deter Hezballah, deter Iran more directly, from opening up a second front. You’ve heard the President speak to this very clearly. He has put the countries and non-state actors on warning: don’t take advantage of the situation. We’ve also deployed very significant assets to the region, two aircraft carrier battle groups, not to provoke but to deter, to make clear that, if anyone tries to do anything, we’re there. So my expectation is that, again, coming from us, coming from Israel, no one is looking for that second front.”
