Israeli defense chief Yoav Gallant on Wednesday said “significant progress” has been made in allaying Israel’s concerns about the flow of U.S. weapons to the Jewish state.
“Obstacles were removed, and bottlenecks were addressed, in order to advance a variety of issues, and more specifically the topic of force build-up and munition supply,” Gallant said after meeting at the White House with Jake Sullivan, President Joe Biden's national security adviser.
Earlier in the week, Gallant had met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
The U.S. is Israel’s chief arms supplier, but in recent weeks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had complained about what he said was the slowed pace of deliveries over several months. White House officials said they were baffled by Netanyahu’s remarks.
A White House statement said Sullivan “reaffirmed President Biden’s commitment to ensure that Israel has all it needs to defend itself militarily and confront its Iranian-backed adversaries,” Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
The U.S. officials voiced alarm this week that Israeli-Hezbollah skirmishes on the Lebanese border could escalate into a broader Mideast war.
United Nations humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths told reporters in Geneva that the spread of Gaza fighting into Lebanon was "potentially apocalyptic." Israel's military said last week that plans for an offensive in Lebanon were "approved and validated.”
"We are worried about the potential for further tragedy and deaths," Griffiths said, warning that a war involving Lebanon "will draw in Syria ... it will draw in others.”
“It will of course have an impact on Gaza; of course it will have an impact on the West Bank,” he said. "It's very alarming."
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday criticized what he said were Netanyahu’s plans to “spread the war” in Gaza to the broader region.
“Israel is now setting its sights on Lebanon, and we see that Western powers behind the scenes are patting Israel on the back and even supporting them," Erdogan told lawmakers.
Netanyahu has said the “intense phase” of fighting against Hamas in Gaza will end soon and Israeli forces will redeploy to the northern border where Israel and the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah have been trading fire for months. Netanyahu has cast the shift as defensive.
U.S. officials this week have expressed their own opposition, warning Israel against moves that could expand the conflict.
Austin told Gallant that a heightened conflict between Israel and Hezbollah could touch off a regional war. Austin urged a diplomatic solution.
"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 before meeting with Austin, said, “We are working closely together to achieve an agreement, but we must also discuss readiness on every possible scenario.”
Blinken, the top U.S. diplomat, also urged Israel to avoid escalation in Lebanon when he met with Gallant on Monday.
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 southern region.
Gallant also met with CIA chief Bill Burns, the key U.S. official in negotiations to free hostages held by Hamas.
The war in Gaza was triggered by last October’s Hamas attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli officials, and led to the capture of about 250 hostages. Israel's counteroffensive in Gaza has killed more than 37,600 Palestinians, mostly civilians, but including thousands of combatants, according to the territory's health ministry.
Some information for this story was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
