By Diyar Guldogan
WASHINGTON (AA) - The US expressed concern Tuesday over growing tensions between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah group and warned against a wider regional conflict.
"When it comes to the situation along the Israel-Lebanon border, our focus is on working with partners in the region, to include Israel, obviously, to encourage a diplomatic resolution,” Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters.
"So I'm not going to get into hypotheticals or speculate on what might happen other than to say that no one wants to see a wider regional war," he added.
His remarks came right after the Israeli military said it has approved plans for an offensive in Lebanon as tensions continue to rise with Hezbollah.
Separately, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday that US envoy Amos Hochstein is currently in Lebanon.
"It is important discussions that he is having, and part of those discussions, obviously, is restoring calm along the Blue Line (separating Lebanon and Israel), which remains a top priority for the United States and must be of the utmost importance for both Lebanon and Israel," Jean-Pierre said.
The US will continue to work hard toward a diplomatic resolution that would allow Israeli and Lebanese citizens to return to their homes and live in peace and security, she added.
Earlier Tuesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that one of the US's objectives since the Israel-Hamas war broke out on Oct. 7 last year has been to prevent the conflict from spreading, including in the north.
Stressing that no one wants an escalation and to see the conflict spread, Blinken said: "I don’t believe Israel does. I don’t believe Hezbollah does. Lebanon certainly doesn’t because it would suffer the most. I don’t believe that Iran does."
Tensions have risen along Lebanon's border with Israel amid cross-border attacks between Hezbollah and Israeli forces as Tel Aviv presses ahead with its deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 37,300 people since last October following an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas.