US Army Commander General Charles Brown warned late Sunday that the United States would have difficulty helping Israel in the event of open war against Hezbollah. He stressed that any extension of the conflict between the Jewish state and the Lebanese terrorist group would threaten the entire region with a full-scale war, also involving Iran. According to him, Tehran would indeed be more and more inclined to take direct part in a conflict which would jeopardize the survival of Hezbollah, its closest ally in the region.
“The United States will not be able to defend Israel in the event of a war against Hezbollah as it did during the Iranian missile and drone attack in April,” said the commander of the American joint forces. “It is much more difficult to create an effective defense system against Hezbollah’s short-range rockets and missiles that are regularly launched at Israel,” he added.
General Brown’s remarks come as Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is visiting the United States, where he discussed with senior American officials the possibility of war with Hezbollah and the threat posed by Iran. “The United States continues to negotiate with Israeli leaders and warn against the expansion of the conflict. It is necessary to think about the side effect of any operation in Lebanon and how it can affect all forces of the region, continued Charles Brown.
He stressed that for the United States, the most important thing was the safety of American soldiers stationed in the region. He did not say whether special security arrangements had been made in anticipation of a possible expansion of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, but stressed that no US base in the Middle East had been attacked since February.
These comments contradict reports over the weekend that senior Biden administration officials had informed National Security Council chief Tzachi Hanegbi and Minister Ron Dermer that the United States was committed to “supporting fully Israel in the event of a conflict with Hezbollah. It had also been indicated that the Biden administration feared that in the event of a full-scale war, the Israeli air defense system would have difficulty coping with the force and scale of Hezbollah’s fire.
On Sunday, the AP news agency reported that thousands of pro-Iranian militia fighters across the Middle East, mainly from Syria and Iraq, were preparing to flock to Lebanon in the event of open war with Israel. .
