US officials work feverishly to stop Israel-Hezbollah confrontation ‘spiraling to a regional war’

The US believes Israel has significantly weakened Hezbollah in strikes over the last week but is still working feverishly behind the scenes to try to convince it not to escalate further and launch a ground incursion into Lebanon over concerns the intensified fighting could spark a broader conflict engulfing the wider Middle East, officials told CNN.

The US believes Israel has significantly weakened Hezbollah in strikes over the last week but is still working feverishly behind the scenes to try to convince it not to escalate further and launch a ground incursion into Lebanon over concerns the intensified fighting could spark a broader conflict engulfing the wider Middle East, officials told CNN. “We are the closest we’ve been to spiraling to a regional war” since Hamas’ October 7 attack, one of the officials said. Hezbollah began launching drone and rocket attacks against Israel one day later, sparking months of hostilities across what had been Israel’s quietest border for years. The situation escalated last week when Israel carried out covert attacks that detonated Hezbollah pagers and walkie-talkies. Israel followed up by pounding Beirut and southern Lebanon with airstrikes that have killed hundreds of civilians and Hezbollah leaders in recent days. The group has responded with rocket attacks targeting Israeli sites including Ramat David air base east of Haifa. The US assesses that neither Israel nor Hezbollah are interested in a full-scale war, officials said. But a senior State Department official expressed skepticism to reporters Monday about Israel’s “escalate to de-escalate” strategy. “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 State Department official told reporters Monday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. The biggest concern right now is that Iran, which is a key backer of Hezbollah, will get involved, the first official said. Tehran has not intervened yet, but they will if they believe they are about to lose their most powerful proxy force, Hezbollah, the official added.