MANILA: United States Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin does not believe that a fight between Israel and Hezbollah is inevitable, and said Washington would like to see things resolved in a diplomatic fashion.

US ‘confident’ of avoiding wider Israel-Hezbollah war

Austin made the comments on Tuesday at a joint press conference in Manila, following security talks between himself, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and their respective Philippine counterparts, Gilberto Teodoro and Enrique Manalo.