The Times of Israel reported that on Nov. 12 Hezbollah launched an anti-tank guided missile attack which wounded at least 14 civilians in northern Israel. The ToI added: “Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, speaking soon afterward, said that Hezbollah risked making the mistake of dragging Lebanon into war, and warned that residents of Beirut would pay the price.” Other media report that the Hezbollah attack followed deeper-than-usual Israeli attacks into southern Lebanon.
Axios carried an interesting background article which reported that U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Nov. 11 called Gallant to express his concern “about Israel’s role in escalating tensions along the border between Israel and Lebanon, according to three Israeli and U.S. sources briefed on the call.… Some in the Biden administration are concerned Israel is trying to provoke Hezbollah and create a pretext for a wider war in Lebanon that could draw the U.S. and other countries further into the conflict, according to sources briefed on the issue. Israeli officials flatly deny it.”
Gallant has been for expanding the war to Hezbollah from the outset, according to Axios. “The Israeli press reported that several days after the war broke out Gallant and several senior IDF commanders wanted to conduct a wide pre-emptive strike against Hezbollah in Lebanon,” but Netanyahu reportedly overruled Gallant.
Axios also reported that “President Biden’s senior adviser Amos Hochstein travelled to Lebanon last week and delivered a strong warning to Hezbollah through Lebanon’s Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri and other Lebanese officials not to escalate the situation, a source with direct knowledge of the issue said.”
