Will US forces fight alongside Israel if Hezbollah opened new front?
The U.S. and Israel are discussing what to do in case Hezbollah joined the war.
U.S. President Joe Biden said he hasn't promised Israel that U.S. forces would fight alongside Israeli troops in response to any attack by Hezbollah against Israel.
"Not true," Biden replied to journalists who asked him about reports that his administration had told Israel that the U.S. would enter the war if Hezbollah did.
However, Biden said that "our military is talking with their military about what the alternatives are" in the event of a Hezbollah attack.
U.S. news portal Axios meanwhile reported that furing his hourlong meeting with Netanyahu and a subsequent talk with members of Israel's War Cabinet, Biden asked about the escalating tension between Israel and Hezbollah on the border of Israel and Lebanon.
"Biden was particularly concerned that Iran-backed Hezbollah would decide to join the war, increasing the odds of a broader conflict in the Middle East," Axios said.
Since the early days of the war, the Biden administration has sent private and public messages to Hezbollah and Iran, warning them not to join in the fighting. Hezbollah has said it is willing to help Hamas.
The Israeli army announced Thursday on X, formerly Twitter, of strikes against positions of Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Since the start of the war, triggered by an unprecedented attack by Hamas militants on Israel on October 7, exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and the Israeli army have likewise increased around the Israel-Lebanon border area.
Clashes there have left at least 18 people dead on the Lebanese side.
Most of the dead have been combatants, including 10 Hezbollah fighters, but they also include a Reuters journalist and two civilians.
On the Israeli side, at least three people have been killed.
Source: Agence France Presse, Naharnet
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