Joint Chiefs of Staff head Charles Q. Brown warned that the US may not be able to help defend Israel against an all-out war with Hezbollah in the same way that it stepped in during the Iran drone attack in April, the Associated Press (AP) reported on Monday.
Brown, a US Air Force general, also said that Iran “would be more inclined to support Hezbollah.”
While the Islamic Republic supports Hamas, General Brown said that Tehran would stand more firmly behind Hezbollah, “particularly if they felt that Hezbollah was being significantly threatened.”
According to AP, he also said that any Israeli military offensive into Lebanon could risk triggering a broader war, putting US forces in danger.
Risk of escalation
In the event of war, Brown said the US would not provide the same assistance as it did when Iran carried out a missile and drone attack on Israel earlier this year. He also said it was hard to fend off the shorter-range rockets that Hezbollah fires across the border into Israel.
He asserted that the safety of US forces was the priority and reiterated that no attacks had been carried out on US bases in the region since February, AP added.
Brown said that the US continued to warn Israel against going to war with Lebanon.
“Think about the second order of effect of any type of operation into Lebanon, and how that might play out and how it impacts not just the region, but how it impacts our forces in regions as well,” Brown reportedly said.
Brown’s comments come amid heightened expectations that the IDF may launch a military campaign in Lebanon to oust Hezbollah from the territory on Israel’s border to stop its persistent attacks.
Prime Minister Netanyahu told Channel 14 on Sunday night that Israel is open to a diplomatic resolution to the Hezbollah threat, but he stressed, “It must be on our terms.”
“We will do what is necessary,” he said. “I can assure the citizens of Israel that if we are required to take on this challenge, we will do it. We can fight on several fronts, and we are also preparing for it.”
Tovah Lazaroff contributed to this report.
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