Biden official categorized the fighting as a part of a “cycle of violence,” for which both Hezbollah and Israel bear responsibility.
By World Israel News Staff
A senior U.S. official slammed the prospect of an Israeli ground invasion of Lebanon and called on Jerusalem to pursue a diplomatic solution to end the conflict with Hezbollah, despite nearly a year of failed negotiations.
The Biden administration official, who spoke to reporters at the UN General Assembly in New York on condition of anonymity, claimed that Washington was floating various proposals for a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
However, when prompted by reporters as to details on the proposals, the official would not elaborate.
“We’ve got some concrete ideas we’re going to be discussing with allies and partners this week to try to figure out the way forward on this,” said the official.
the U.S. is prioritizing finding an “off-ramp that will first and foremost prevent further escalation in the fighting,” he said.
“We obviously do not believe that a ground invasion of Lebanon is going to contribute to reducing tensions in the region, to preventing an escalatory spiral of violence, and that’s in part why we are so focused on utilizing this week to explore these ideas and see if we can develop this off-ramp,” he continued.
The Biden administration official also claimed that military action never results in stability.
“I can’t recall, at least in recent memory, a period in which an escalation or intensification led to a fundamental de-escalation and led to profound stabilization of the situation,” the official said.
He acknowledged that perspective was not shared by Israel.
Despite the fact that Hezbollah launched an unprovoked attack on Israel on October 8th and has been launching near-daily rocket, missile, and explosive drone salvos on Israel, the official categorized the fighting as a part of a “cycle of violence,” for which both Hezbollah and Israel bear responsibility.
President Joe Biden and his administration are focused on “reducing tensions … and breaking the cycle of strike-counterstrike,” the official said.