U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told his Israeli counterpart, Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, that Israel needed to “pivot” to a “diplomatic pathway” in Lebanon, despite stunning Israeli advances against Hezbollah.
The statement came after Israel acknowledged that two United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) “peacekeeping” soldiers had been injured by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) fire in southern Lebanon. The IDF said it had been firing on Hezbollah terrorists near a UNIFIL position. Later, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the United Nations to withdraw UNIFIL troops from Lebanon, as Hezbollah was using them as “human shields.”
I spoke with Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant on Oct. 12 and expressed my deep concern about reports that Israeli forces fired on UN peacekeeping positions in Lebanon as well as by the reported death of two Lebanese soldiers. I strongly emphasized the importance of…
— Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III (@SecDef) October 12, 2024
Hezbollah started the conflict on October 8, 2023, when it began firing on Israeli communities in solidarity with Hamas, the Palestinian terror group that carried out the brutal October 7 terror attack in Israel. Israel fired back, while evacuating over 60,000 residents from 74 Jewish and Arab towns near its northern border.
For nearly a year, Israel said that it was open to a diplomatic solution in which Hezbollah withdrew from the Lebanese border, and the border region was disarmed, as required by United Nations Security Council resolutions. The Biden-Harris administration sent special envoy Amos Hochstein back and forth in an attempt to forge an agreement. But Hezbollah refused to abide by the United Nations requirements and insisted Israel withdraw from its own border. […]
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