By Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States was not told in advance about Israel’s strike on Hezbollah’s headquarters in Beirut that killed the leader of the Iran-backed militant group, U.S. President Joe Biden and other officials said, raising further questions about the administration’s ability to influence its close ally.
Biden said on Friday the U.S. had no advance knowledge of or participation in the Israeli airstrike, which Hezbollah said on Saturday killed its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also said he did not have any advance warning but spoke to his Israeli counterpart as the operation was already underway.
Austin on Friday declined to offer any assessment of the strike, amid speculation about the fate of the Lebanese militant group’s head Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. Austin said he would be speaking with Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant again “soon” for an update.
“We had no advance warning. My call with Minister Gallant took place while the operation was actually already underway,” Austin told reporters as he landed at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington after a trip to London.
The killing of Nasrallah could have far-reaching implications for the Middle East as Israel shifts its attention from its nearly year-old war with Iran-aligned Hamas in Gaza to operations against Hezbollah amid fears that strikes in Lebanon could trigger a wider war that draws in Iran.
A White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it was unclear how the situation will evolve.
“We’re obviously working our way through it this morning. And, you know, it’s not clear exactly where things go from right now,” said the official.
The Biden administration has struggled over the past year to balance Israel’s right to self-defense against the need to contain civilian casualties and prevent a spiral into a broader Middle East conflict.
Analysts said Friday’s strike would further complicate that effort.
“The killing of Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s leader, by an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon will not fundamentally alter the course of this conflict,” said Rosemary Kelanic, director of the Middle East Program at Defense Priorities, a think tank.
“Nasrallah’s death doesn’t change anything for the United States either, except that it further complicates American efforts to negotiate a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah to prevent more bloodshed.”
The timing of the strike, coming while Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu was visiting New York to speak at the U.N. General Assembly, could create additional friction for the U.S.-Israel relationship.
A former senior U.S. national security official told Reuters the United States would take particular umbrage at reports that Netanyahu ordered the strike from U.S. soil.
The White House had no immediate comment.
Jordan’s foreign minister said Netanyahu was driving the region to a full-fledged war.
Austin has been publicly warning that a full-blown war between Hezbollah and Israel would be devastating for both sides and on Friday renewed calls for diplomacy.
“An all out war should be avoided,” Austin said.
“Diplomacy continues to be the best way forward, and it’s the fastest way to let displaced Israeli and Lebanese citizens return to their homes on both sides of the border.”
Asked on Friday what Austin may have communicated to Gallant given the Israeli strike’s potential impact on U.S. efforts to secure a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh declined to offer specifics, but she said the defense secretary is always frank in his conversations with his Israeli counterpart.
“Look at just the engagements that the secretary and Minister Gallant have had over the last two weeks, speaking regularly. I think if there was any type of fracture in trust, you wouldn’t see those type of levels of calls and engagements occurring frequently,” Singh said when asked if the lack of advance notification by Israel indicated a lack of trust.
(Additional reporting by David Ljunggren, Gabriella Borter, Andrea Shalal, Trevor Hunnicutt and Steve Holland; Editing by Alistair Bell, Don Durfee and Daniel Wallis)
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