The top US military officer warned on Sunday that any Israeli military offensive into Lebanon would risk an Iranian response in defense of the powerful Hezbollah terror group there, and that US forces would be challenged to bolster Israel’s air defense umbrella.

Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown, chairman of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Iran “would be more inclined to support Hezbollah” than it does the Hamas terror group in Gaza, “particularly if they felt that Hezbollah was being significantly threatened.”

Brown spoke to reporters as he traveled to Botswana for a meeting of African defense ministers.

Israeli officials have threatened a military offensive in Lebanon if there is no negotiated move to push Hezbollah away from the border, after more than eight months of increasingly intense attack on towns and military posts in northern Israel.

Just days ago, Israel’s military said it had “approved and validated” plans for an offensive in Lebanon, even as the US works to prevent the fighting from spiraling into a full-blown war. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday he hoped a diplomatic solution could be reached but he would solve the problem “in a different way” if needed. ″We can fight on several fronts and we are prepared to do that,” he said.

The issue is expected to come up this week as Defense Minister Yoav Gallant visits Washington for meetings with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other senior US officials.

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