United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin does not believe that a fight between Israel and Hezbollah is inevitable, and said Washington would like to see things resolved in a diplomatic fashion.
Austin made the comments on Tuesday at a joint press conference in Manila, following security talks between himself, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and their respective Philippine counterparts, Gilberto Teodoro and Enrique Manalo.
Israel wants to hurt Hezbollah but not drag the Middle East into all-out war, two Israeli officials said on Monday, as Lebanon braced for retaliation after a rocket strike that killed 12 children and teenagers in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Two other Israeli officials said Israel was preparing for the possibility of a few days of fighting following Saturday's rocket strike at a sports field in a Druze town that it blamed on the Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah.
Hezbollah has denied any connection with the incident.
