Washington, DC – The United States has said it does not want to see further escalation between Israel and Hezbollah after the Lebanese militant group blamed Israel for a series of deadly hand-held pager blasts.
But the administration of US President Joe Biden, who has become Israel’s top military leader and politician, on Tuesday again sought to downplay his ability to defuse tensions between the two.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday afternoon, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Washington was not involved in the attack and was not notified in advance that it would happen.
“I will say that our overall policy remains consistent, which is to say, we want to see a resolution to the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah,” Miller said. “We are always concerned about any kind of event that may continue to escalate.”
But when pressed that the influence of the Biden administration – the US provides Israel with military aid of $ 3.8bn annually and strong diplomatic support – could be used to prevent a wider war, Miller said that “is not just a question of the United States.”.
“Yes, the first question … to command Israel. It’s a question for Hezbollah, but it’s a question for all other countries in the region about what kind of region they want to live in,” he said.
“Therefore, the United States will continue to enforce the officials’ decision.”
Miller’s comments come as rights advocates urged the Biden administration to pressure Israel to end its war on the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians since early October and devastated the Palestinian coastline.
Analysts have repeatedly accused Washington of acting as a “fire-starter and fire-fighter” by continuing to refuse to use US military aid to its “ironclad” ally despite the dangers that a protracted Gaza war could lead to a wider regional escalation.
Hezbollah, which has been lashing out at Israel since the start of the war in Gaza, blamed Israel for Tuesday’s blast and promised “appropriate punishment”.
The Israeli army has not yet responded to the blast.
Lebanon’s health minister said at least nine people, including an eight-year-old girl, were killed when pagers exploded in Lebanon. About 2,750 people were injured, including 200 in critical condition.
Asked about the indiscriminate nature of the explosion, Miller at the US State Department declined to comment directly on what happened.
However, he said, broadly speaking, the American position is that “no country, no organization should target its citizens”.
‘Mud on their faces’
The explosion happened as the Biden administration continued to say that they wanted to make an agreement to stop Gaza between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian group that controls the area.
On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to the Middle East for the latest meeting with mediators.
“President Biden doesn’t have much time, the US election is less than 60 days away,” said Al Jazeera’s Kimberly Halkett reporting from Washington, DC.
“So if [the Lebanon explosions] These are the things that Israel is facing, this is really disappointing for the United States.”
The deadly blast also happened less than a day after White House adviser Amos Hochstein met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to push for a crackdown on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon.
After the meeting, Netanyahu’s office issued a defiant statement saying the Israelis would not be able to return to the depopulated areas along the Lebanese border “without a significant change in the security situation in the north”.
Ramy Khoury, a distinguished fellow at the American University of Beirut, called Israel’s response to the American request a “lesson”.
“The Israelis not only ignore what the Americans tell them, but throw mud in their faces,” Khoury told Al Jazeera.
“The American people have very limited skills in terms of their diplomacy. They are more focused on supporting Israel’s war and punishing Israel’s enemies.”
Khoury added that “American efforts are not considered very important by many people in the region” because of the country’s unconditional support for Israel.
“The US should be a major diplomatic actor,” he said. “But it is clear from Israel’s side and everything it does must fit into Israel’s priorities.”