Biden Dissuades Netanyahu From Striking Hezbollah in October to Prevent War - Reports

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - US President Joe Biden convinced in October Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to carry out a preventive strike against Lebanese Shia movement Hezbollah, The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, citing US officials.

Israel had information that Hezbollah forces were preparing attacks on Israel after Hamas launched a large-scale rocket attack against the Jewish state from the Gaza Strip and breached the border on October 7, the report said. Israeli military aircraft were ready to conduct the preventive strike, but Biden’s call to Netanyahu on October 11 changed Israeli plans, the report added.

In particular, the United States found Israel’s intelligence unreliable, the report read, adding that the US president invited Netanyahu to think about the consequences of the attack on Lebanon, which could lead to a wider regional war.

The Israeli government believed that a large war in the Middle East was inevitable and wanted to strike first, the newspaper reported. At the same time, Israel realized that it could not take such a step alone, and requested support from Washington, the report said.

After the long internal discussions followed by Biden’s call, the Israeli government reportedly abandoned the idea of striking Hezbollah.

Later in the day, Netanyahu’s office called "incorrect" The Wall Street Journal’s report about Biden’s call with the Israeli prime minister.

"Already on the first day of the war [against Hamas], Prime Minister Netanyahu decided that Israel would first work to achieve a decisive victory in the south, while deterring an attack in the north," the office was quoted as saying by The Times of Israel newspaper.

US President Joe Biden also said that his discussion with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was of a "long talk" and in this conversation he did not insist on a truce in the Gaza Strip, the White House pool reported.

"I did not ask him for a ceasefire," sated Biden.

On October 7, Hamas launched a large-scale rocket attack against Israel, while its fighters breached the border, opening fire on the military and civilians. As a result, over 1,200 people in Israel were killed and some 240 others abducted. Israel launched retaliatory strikes, ordered a complete blockade of Gaza and launched a ground incursion into the Palestinian enclave with the declared goal of eliminating Hamas fighters and rescuing the hostages. Over 20,000 people have been killed so far in Gaza as a result of Israeli strikes, local authorities said.

On November 24, Qatar mediated a deal between Israel and Hamas on a temporary truce and the exchange of some of the prisoners and hostages, as well as the delivery of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. The ceasefire was extended several times and expired on December 1.