The US doesn’t see any merit in this idea that has been put forward by the Israelis, that they’re going to escalate to de-escalate.
They say the moves the Israelis are making to build up their forces on the border, which some see as a precursor to a ground invasion of southern Lebanon, they don’t think that’s helpful at all.
So the US is using all the diplomatic levers they have.
We heard from Biden, who met with the president of the United Arab Emirates. He was in the White House a few hours ago and he said his team were working around the clock to try and de-escalate. They simply don’t see what is happening in Lebanon at the moment as a way to de-escalate what is happening across the region.
The US is sending extra forces to the Middle East – no details on how big those forces will be or what role they will play, but it’s clear that the Americans are deeply concerned with what they’ve seen over the last several days.