The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Iran was much more likely to provide material support for Hezbollah than it did for Hamas, putting U.S. forces in the region in danger
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The top U.S. general warned Sunday that any Israeli ground maneuver in Lebanon would risk an Iranian intervention on behalf of its Hezbollah proxy group, which could trigger a wider war that would put U.S. forces in the region in danger.
Air Force General Charles Brown, who is chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Tehran would give more backing to Hezbollah than it did to Hamas, “particularly if they felt that Hezbollah was being significantly threatened.”
Israeli officials have threatened a military offensive in Lebanon if there is no diplomatic solution that would remove Hezbollah from its northern border.
Last week, the IDF said it had “approved and validated” plans for a ground maneuver in Lebanon, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Sunday ″We can fight on several fronts and we are prepared to do that.”
It follows a bellicose speech from Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah made late last week which put the region on edge for a full-blown war.
U.S. officials have been trying to broker negotiations to the conflict, with White House advisor Amos Hochstein meeting officials in Lebanon and Israel last week. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is in Washington where he is expected to discuss the conflict with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other senior U.S. officials.
Brown also said the U.S. will not be able to assist Israel at the same level that it has helped the IDF fight Hamas, due to the type of weaponry that Hezbollah uses. According to the Associated Press, Brown told reporters that the U.S. has told a spectrum of Israeli officials “to 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.”