0
Thursday 29 February 2024 - 11:28

CNN: Biden Officials Concerned ‘Israel’ may Launch Incursion into Lebanon

Story Code : 1119368
CNN: Biden Officials Concerned ‘Israel’ may Launch Incursion into Lebanon
According to senior administrations officials and officials familiar with the intelligence say, “While final ‘Israeli’ decision has yet to be made, the worry is acute enough inside the Biden administration that the prospect of an incursion has made its way into intelligence briefings for senior administration officials.”

“We are operating in the assumption that an ‘Israeli’ military operation is in the coming months,” one senior Biden administration official said. “Not necessarily imminently in the next few weeks but perhaps later this spring. An ‘Israeli’ military operation is a distinct possibility.”

The senior official, who has heard differing opinions within the ‘Israeli’ government about the need to go into Lebanon, further stated: “I think what ‘Israel’ is doing is they are raising this threat in the hope that there will be a negotiated agreement.”

“Some ‘Israeli’ officials suggest that it is more of an effort at creating a threat that they can utilize. Others speak of it more as a military necessity that’s going to happen,” the official said.

A second senior Biden administration official said there are elements inside the “Israeli” government and military in favor of an incursion. There’s “a growing group that says: ‘Hey, let’s just take a shot. Let’s just do it,’” the senior official said, adding that any incursion could lead to a “major, major escalation that we don’t even know the proportions of.”

“There are fears this will grow to an expansive air campaign reaching much further north into populated areas of Lebanon and eventually grow to a ground component as well,” another person familiar with the US intelligence said.

The US intelligence community has been “ringing alarm bells,” the person added.

In parallel, the CNN underlined that many have also argued that “Israeli” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has an interest in extending the fighting because an end to the conflicts could bring about the end of his government. If quiet is restored then questions about Netanyahu’s failure to protect the “Israeli” entity on October 7 will fill the vacuum.

“Once the war is over, his expiration date arrives,” the first senior administration official said. “So, he needs to maintain the impression, maintain the narrative that ‘Israel’ is still in the middle of a campaign, to try to stave off efforts to remove him.”
Comment