A wave of deadly explosions of pagers and other electronic devices carried by militants in Lebanon has sharply heightened Pentagon concern about a potential ground war erupting in southern Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah.
Even before the hundreds of widely dispersed detonations Tuesday and Wednesday, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told other senior Pentagon officials in a Monday meeting that he feared Israel could soon launch an offensive, after months of back-and-forth rocket and air attacks with Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed militia group that controls much of southern Lebanon.
U.S. alarm about a possible invasion has intensified since the brazen attacks in Lebanon. “I am very concerned about this spiraling out of control,” a senior defense official said, echoing comments since Tuesday by other Pentagon aides.
Israel’s military moved a division of commando and paratrooper soldiers to the north in recent days from the southern part of the country, after it had operated for months in Gaza, according to a person familiar with the matter. The division consists of thousands of soldiers.
Since the Gaza war broke out last October, the Biden administration has worried about a full-scale conflict on Israel’s northern frontier that could draw in the U.S. and even Iran.
U.S. officials stressed that they haven’t yet seen any indicators such as calling up reserves to indicate an imminent invasion. Even once a decision is made, it could take weeks before Israeli forces are in position to launch a major offensive. But Israel could order a smaller operation more quickly, without other major military moves, U.S. defense officials said.
Israeli officials said Wednesday that they were beginning a new stage in their clash with Hezbollah, unless the militant group pulls back its forces from southern Lebanon and halts cross-border rocket and mortar attacks, which have forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of Israelis from the north.
“We are at the start of a new phase in the war—we are allocating resources and forces to the northern arena and our mission is clear: ensuring the safe return of Israel’s northern communities to their homes,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant posted Wednesday on X. “To do so, the security situation must be changed.”
John Kirby, U.S. National Security Council spokesman, told reporters Wednesday that there was still a way to end the crisis through diplomacy, not war. “Nothing is inevitable,” he said of a potential conflict.
