CNN —An eerie relative calm has descended on the Middle East — Gaza obviously excluded — since a highly alarming exchange of missile, rocket and drone attacks by Israel and Iran in recent weeks. Now, the recent exchange of direct military attacks with Iran might have sealed Lebanon’s fate, unless team Biden can restrain Israel. On April 1, Israel struck an Iranian diplomatic facility in Damascus, killing a number of senior Iranian officials including Brig. As Israel’s forces moved south through Gaza, obliterating Hamas brigades with relative ease, its thinking relatively quickly turned north again. If this happens, a primary US goal regarding the Gaza war — conflict containment — would be shattered not by Washington’s adversaries, but ironically by its closest regional partner.

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Persons: Hussein Ibish, Read, Biden, Israel, Mohammad Reza Zahedi, Haji Rahimi, Hossein Amirollah, Louai Beshara, Benjamin Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant, Charbel Mallo, Israel —, Joe Biden Organizations: Gulf States Institute, Israel, CNN, Biden, Hezbollah, Brig, Iran’s, Quds Force, Getty, Iranian, Israeli Locations: Washington, East, Gaza, Israel, Iran, Lebanon, Iranian, Damascus, Brig, Syria, AFP, Tehran, United States, Kafr Kila, Lebanese