Blinken: Israel has ‘lost sovereignty’ in northern border areas – but both sides don’t want larger war

Mediation efforts continue as German intelligence chief meets Hezbollah leader

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Israel has “lost sovereignty” in areas along its border due to the incessant attacks by the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah, U.S. State Secretary Antony Blinken said Monday at an event at the Brookings Institute.

While the terror group has been attacking Israel since last October, the past month has seen an escalation in its attacks, giving rise to widespread fear that an all-out war may only be a matter of time.

At the time of publication, Hezbollah had not yet carried out an attack against Israel, however, on Monday, the terror group held on initiating attacks against Israel for the majority of Monday before launching a series of attacks later in the evening.

While Israel also hadn’t announced any attacks on Tuesday, Lebanese reports in the late afternoon stated that one man was killed in an Israeli strike in al-Bustan.

Currently, there is “momentum” toward a larger war between Hezbollah and the IDF, Blinken confirmed, while adding that none of the involved actors are interested in escalating the conflict.

“None of the main actors actually want a war. Israel doesn’t want a war, although they may well be prepared to engage in one, if necessary. I don’t believe Hezbollah actually wants a war,” he said.

“Lebanon certainly doesn’t want a war, because it would be the leading victim in such a war. I don’t believe that Iran wants a war, in part, because it wants to make sure that Hezbollah is not destroyed, and that it can hold on to Hezbollah as a card if it needs it – if it ever gets into a direct conflict with Israel,” Blinken stated.

Mediation efforts led by the United States, France and other European nations have, thus far, been unsuccessful, as Hezbollah demands a total end to Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza before it will stop launching attacks.

The “U.S. has been deeply engaged in trying to advance this diplomacy,” Blinken said, adding that the preferable option would be a diplomatic agreement for Hezbollah to vacate the immediate border area.

He also brought up the plight of tens of thousands of Israelis who have evacuated their homes and continue to live in hotels and other temporary accommodations.

“People don’t feel safe to go to their homes. Absent doing something about the insecurity, people won’t have the confidence to return,” Blinken said.

On Tuesday, the German newspaper Bild reported that Israel would begin a ground incursion into southern Lebanon in the second half of July, “if Hezbollah does not stop shelling the north.”

“It will start in the third or fourth week of the month,” the newspaper said.

Germany is one of several countries that have called on their citizens to leave Lebanon in recent days. On Monday, its main airline, Lufthansa, announced a suspension of nighttime flights to and from Lebanon until the end of July.

Taking part in the mediation efforts, the deputy director of Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service (BND), Ole Diehl, traveled to Lebanon on Saturday to meet with Hezbollah’s second-in-command, Sheikh Naim Qassem, the Hezbollah-affiliated newspaper Al-Akhbar reported on Tuesday.

According to informed sources, “the meeting’s atmosphere was positive,” and focused on how to prevent an all-out war. Diehl had already met with Qassem back in January, with his second visit coming just a week after German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock's visit to Beirut and Jerusalem.

Qassem reiterated his unchanged stance from January that Hezbollah would only cease its fire once the war in Gaza was halted completely, according to an Al-Akhbar report.