Lebanon US looks unable to halt Israeli ground offensive

The Biden administration is losing influence over whether Benjamin Netanyahu launches a ground invasion into southern Lebanon or not.

- Andrew Roth

For more than a year, Joe Biden and his senior advisers have managed to forestall an Israeli ground incursion into Lebanon in fear of a larger war that could envelop the entire Middle East.

In the days after the 7 October attack, Biden phoned Netanyahu to talk him out of a massive retaliation against Hezbollah, which had begun firing guided rockets against Israeli positions after the Hamas raid.

In April of this year, Biden also told Netanyahu that the US would not support Israel in an offensive war against Iran, after Tehran launched dozens of loitering munitions, cruise missiles and drones toward Israel.

But yesterday US outlets reported that Netanyahu's administration had told White House officials that they were planning a limited ground incursion into Lebanon, essentially escalating a conflict with Hezbollah and its backer Iran to a level that Biden and his team have tried desperately to avoid.