Charles Quinton Brown Jr. (62), an Air Force General and the 21st chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff since October 1, 2023, on Sunday warned that an Israeli military operation in Lebanon could provoke Iran to intervene on behalf of its ally, Hezbollah, and this escalation might spark a wider conflict, potentially endangering US military personnel stationed in the area.
Brown spoke to reporters on his way to Botswana for a meeting of African defense ministers.
Brown said Iran “would be more inclined to support Hezbollah … particularly if they felt that Hezbollah was being significantly threatened.”
On Sunday night, Prime Minister Benjamin said on Channel 14 that he was hoping for a diplomatic solution to the crisis, but vowed to take care of the persistent Hezbollah attacks on the northern border “in a different way” if needed. “We can fight on several fronts, and we are prepared to do that,” Netanyahu said.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was in Washington on Sunday to meet with senior Pentagon officials about the escalating situation in Israel’s northern region, where more than 50 thousand civilians have been evacuated from settlements along the Lebanese border, creating a de facto no man’s land inside Israel.
The Biden administration, through envoy Amos Hochstein, has presented a diplomatic solution to address the escalating situation, however, this plan’s implementation may only be feasible once a ceasefire is declared in Gaza. Even then, Hezbollah’s willingness to accept an agreement based on the 2006 UN Resolution 1701 – calling on the terrorist group to retreat to the northern bank of the Litani River – remains uncertain, based on the fact that Hezbollah has been defying 1701 since signing it. Meanwhile, Israel has indicated its readiness to use military force to establish the resolution’s boundaries if necessary.
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby suggested last Thursday that “conversations are ongoing” in the hope of a diplomatic solution involving a terrorist organization. “We still don’t want to see a second front opened up,” Kirby said. “Obviously, we take the tensions and the rhetoric seriously by both sides. And we’re doing everything we can to try to prevent that outcome.”
And those folks call Ben Gvir and Smotrich “Messianists.”
