According to the Wall Street Journal, a few days after the October 7th attacks by Hamas militants on Israel, US President Joe Biden warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that preemptive attacks on Hamas could lead to a regional war and called for a halt to the attacks.
According to government officials, Israel had intelligence regarding Hezbollah’s militants planning to cross the border as part of a multi-pronged operation against the country. However, the US deemed this intelligence unreliable.
On October 11, while Biden was warning Netanyahu about refraining from the attack, Israeli fighter jets were on standby for orders to initiate the operation. Israel ultimately did not carry out the attack, showing a pattern of White House efforts to prevent the escalation of the conflict, which could drag the US into war as well. The details of these discussions were never previously reported.
The main focus of the Biden administration since the October 7th attacks has been to prevent any escalation of hostilities on the northern border with Lebanon. Israeli forces engaged in exchanges of fire with Hezbollah militants from the initial days of the clashes.
After the October 7th attack, the US deployed two aircraft carriers and a nuclear submarine in the eastern Mediterranean to prevent hostilities, as well as forming a military coalition to counter Houthi attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea. However, diplomacy remains at the center of Washington’s actions.
Special envoy Amos Hochstein from the White House has been actively seeking a secure diplomatic solution to end the ongoing clashes between Washington, Beirut, and Tel Aviv.
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The role of the United States in preventing Israel’s widespread attack on Hezbollah in October demonstrates the significant role of diplomacy in preventing the transformation of the conflict into a regional war.
Israeli officials deliberately informed Washington at 6:30 am, on October 11, of their intention to attack Hezbollah and believed that the group was planning an attack. They claimed that Israel alone could not carry out a widespread preemptive attack on Hezbollah and sought US support.
According to reports from the Wall Street Journal, Netanyahu remained unconvinced about halting the attacks after his conversation with Joe Biden. At that time, Defense Minister Benny Gantz considered a broader war inevitable and pushed for Israeli action. However, the US was adamant about preventing a wider conflict.
According to American officials, Netanyahu ended the call with Biden after 45 minutes, mentioning that “he will discuss the matter with his war cabinet.”
At the same time, Israeli soldiers were put on high alert at the northern border, preparing for the arrival of Hezbollah paragliding militants from the southern Lebanon border into Israel.
Israel also issued a public warning for the residents of the northern areas to seek shelter in bomb shelters. However, it was later revealed that these warnings were erroneous.
Although the US insisted that the available intelligence did not indicate an imminent attack by Hezbollah, Israeli officials, after six hours of deliberation and consecutive meetings, agreed to halt the preemptive attack.
According to US and Israeli officials, Biden’s opposition led Netanyahu and his war cabinet to abandon the pursuit of a widespread preemptive attack on Hezbollah.