A senior US official warned that a full-blown war between the Zionist entity and Hezbollah in Lebanon could have “catastrophic and unforeseen consequences.” “There is an idea of ’Let’s go to war and then we will destroy all the missiles Hezbollah has and everything will be fine.’ It’s not that simple.

There is no magic solution.

The other side cannot be annihilated.

At the end of the war, Israel may pay a heavy price and not achieve its goals,” the US official told the Middle East America Dialogue (MEAD) summit in Washington, DC, on Monday.

“There is no war in lab conditions.

It’s not a game.

I don’t doubt the capabilities of the (Israeli military), but we have to think about the fact that there will be serious consequences for both sides,” the US official said as quoted by Israeli journalist Barak Ravid.

Israeli former war cabinet minister Benny Gantz addresses the Middle East America Dialogue (MEAD) summit in Washington, DC, September 8, 2024. The official argued that if a war were to break out, the international community would intervene to reach a diplomatic solution that would be similar to what can be clinched now.

In quotes from the conference published by Hebrew media sites, the US official warned that thousands, or even tens of thousands, of people could be killed if the tensions escalated into an all-out war, along with heavy damage to both Israeli and Lebanese infrastructure.