Hizbullah and Israel stand on the brink of a devastating war. The prospect now looms of US and UK military strikes against the Houthis in response to their attacks on Red Sea shipping. But Hizbullah, and its key backer Iran, have made clear they want to avoid a full conflict with Israel. To maintain their own sense of regional deterrence, Hizbullah and Iran will now be under growing pressure to respond more emphatically to these attacks. The US government’s current pledge to back Israel militarily against Hizbullah and Iran if conflict widens is a handmaiden to escalation.
