Diplomacy is the best way to neutralize the threat Hezbollah poses to Israel from its northern border with Lebanon, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters in Tel Aviv on Friday.
“We also believe that the threat can be dealt with through diplomacy and does not require the launching of a new war,” Sullivan said.
He spoke amid his second visit to Israel since the start of the Gaza war on October 7, which has been accompanied by an increase in cross-border violence between the IDF and Hezbollah on the country’s northern border.
Those Israelis who evacuated communities along Israel’s northern border out of fear of an attack similar to the kind that Hamas executed against the country’s southern border on October 7, “have to be able to return to their homes” with a “true sense of security,” Sullivan said.
“The best way to do this is to come up with a negotiated outcome in which those Israeli citizens in those communities up on the northern border can know that they will not be subject to an attack that will take their lives and destroy their communities, we will continue to work on that I believe we can accomplish,” Sullivan said.
Deterrence important to diplomacy
Deterrence is an important element of that kind of diplomacy, Sullivan said.
“We need to send a clear message that we will not tolerate the kinds of threats and terrorist activity that we have seen from Hezbollah,” he stressed.
Israel's military said on Thursday that Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon has fired hundreds of rockets and missiles at Israel, and about one in five of the rockets fell short inside Lebanon.
"Overall, approximately one in five rockets fired by Hezbollah since October 7th toward Israel have fallen inside Lebanese territory. Hezbollah's rocket attacks harm Israeli and Lebanese civilians alike," the military said.
Following the eruption of the Hamas-Israel war on Oct. 7, Hezbollah mounted near-daily rocket attacks at Israel while Israel launched air and artillery strikes in south Lebanon.Reuters contributed to this report.