WASHINGTON, June  25, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin
met his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant at the Pentagon on Tuesday, warning
that a conflict between Israel and Hezbollah could spark a regional war and
urging a diplomatic solution.

More than eight months of war in Gaza has heightened tensions across the
region, with Israeli forces and Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah exchanging fire
on a near-daily basis.

"Another war between Israel and Hezbollah could easily become a regional
war, with terrible consequences for the Middle East," Austin said. "Diplomacy
is by far the best way to prevent more escalation."

Gallant, speaking at the opening of the meeting with Austin, said that "we
are working closely together to achieve an agreement but we must also discuss
readiness on every possible scenario.

The Israeli army said last week that plans for an offensive in Lebanon were
"approved and validated" amid escalating cross-border clashes, but Washington
is seeking to lower the temperature and head off another major conflict in the
Middle East.

Gallant is on a visit to Washington seeking to reaffirm the value of ties
with Israel's top ally after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly
chastised the United States for what he said was a delay in weapons deliveries.

The US government insists that only one shipment of bombs has been held up
over concerns about their use in populated areas, and that other arms
deliveries are proceeding as usual.

The United States is Israel's main supplier of weapons but the growing
death toll from the Gaza conflict has piled pressure on President Joe Biden to
take action and fueled tensions between his administration and Netanyahu.

Gallant met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington the
previous day, with the top US diplomat calling on Israel to avoid escalation in
Lebanon.

The Israeli minister also held talks with CIA chief Bill Burns, the key US
point man in negotiations to free hostages from Hamas, which launched an
unprecedented attack on Israel in October that sparked a devastating conflict
in Gaza.

Netanyahu has said Israeli forces are winding up the most intense part of
the Gaza war and will redeploy to the northern border, although he has cast the
move as defensive.

Israel and Hezbollah last fought a full-scale war in 2006 when a
cross-border Hezbollah attack sparked 34 days of fighting that took a heavy
toll on Lebanon, especially the country's south.