(Reuters) – The US is leading a diplomatic effort to discourage Israel from bombing Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, or key civil infrastructure in retaliation to a deadly rocket attack on the Golan Heights, according to five sources familiar with the situation.
Washington is racing to prevent a full-fledged war between Israel and the Iranian-backed Lebanese movement Hezbollah after a weekend attack on the Israeli-occupied Golan killed 12 youths, according to five people who include Lebanese and Iranian officials, as well as Middle Eastern and European diplomats.
Israel and the United States blamed Hezbollah for the rocket strike, although the group has denied culpability.
The goal of the high-speed diplomacy has been to limit Israel’s response by urging it not to target densely populated Beirut, the city’s southern suburbs that serve as Hezbollah’s heartland, or key infrastructure such as airports and bridges, according to sources who requested anonymity to discuss confidential details that have not previously been reported.
Lebanon’s deputy parliament speaker, Elias Bou Saab, told Reuters that he has been in communication with US mediator Amos Hochstein since Saturday’s Golan attack and that Israel could avoid a serious escalation by sparing the capital and its environs.
“If they avoid civilians and they avoid Beirut and its suburbs, then their attack could be well calculated,” according to him.
Israeli leaders have stated that their government wishes to harm Hezbollah without plunging the region into total conflict. The two Middle Eastern and European officials stated that Israel had made no pledge to avoid strikes on Beirut, its suburbs, or civil infrastructure.
The US State Department said it would not comment on the specifics of diplomatic discussions, but it was looking for a “durable solution” to cease all cross-border violence. “Our support for Israel’s security is ironclad and unwavering against all Iran-backed threats, including Hezbollah,” a spokeswoman told Reuters.
White House spokesman John Kirby told reporters that Israel had the right to retaliate to the Golan strike, but no one desired a larger conflict. “As for conversations over the weekend, you bet we’ve had them and we had them at multiple levels,” according to him. “But I’m not going to detail the guts of those conversations.”
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office did not respond to a request for comment, while Hezbollah declined to comment.
The five people who have knowledge of the diplomatic drive over the last two days have either participated in or been briefed on the conversations. They stated that the attempts attempted to develop a calibrated strategy similar to that used in April’s exchange of missile and drone attacks between Israel and Iran, which was initiated by an Israeli strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus.
An Iranian official said the US has sent warnings to Tehran at least three times since Saturday’s attack on the Golan Heights, “warning that escalating the situation would be detrimental to all parties.”
Hezbollah is the most powerful regional proxy group in Iran’s “Axis of Resistance” network, and it is partnered with the Palestinian party Hamas. It has been exchanging fire with the Israeli troops across Lebanon’s southern border since the Gaza war began in October.
During the 2006 war, the last time Israel and Hezbollah fought a significant confrontation, Israeli forces bombed Beirut’s southern suburbs, known as the Dahiya, destroying Hezbollah-affiliated and residential structures. Beirut International Airport was bombed and rendered inoperable, while bridges, roads, petrol stations, and other infrastructure around Lebanon were devastated.”
A French ambassador told Reuters that since the Golan incident, Paris has been active in conveying messages between Israel and Hezbollah in order to de-escalate the situation.
France has longstanding links with Lebanon, which was under French mandate from 1920 until its independence in 1943. Since then, Paris has maintained tight links with the country, which now has approximately 20,000 citizens, many of whom are dual nationals.
The French Foreign Ministry did not respond to Reuters’ inquiries for comment.
The Israeli Homefront Command, a military force in charge of defending civilians, has not revised any of its instructions to people thus far, indicating that the IDF does not anticipate an imminent threat from Hezbollah or any other group.
On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet, which consists of 10 ministers and has dictated policy on the Gaza conflict and Hezbollah, allowed the premier and defense minister to “decide on the manner and timing of the response” to Hezbollah.
This decision, combined with the abstention of Netanyahu’s far-right coalition allies, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, implies that Israel has chosen a less aggressive reaction than some lawmakers have recommended.
Following the Golan incident, Smotrich released a strong statement calling for swift response. He wrote on X: “For the deaths of children, (Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan) Nasrallah should pay with his head.” “All of Lebanon should pay.”
