US warned Israel against preemptive strike on Hezbollah: Report

US President Joe Biden and his aides advised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to launch pre-emptive strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon, a move that could risk widening the current unrest to another front, the New York Times reported on Friday.

US and Israeli sources told the newspaper the Biden administration issued this warning after learning that hawkish members of Netanyahu's cabinet, including the defence minister and senior military officials, had approved the idea of bombing Hezbollah.

US officials said Israel would struggle if it chose to fight a war on two fronts - Hamas in the south and Hezbollah in the north - and that fighting Hezbollah could mean drawing Iran into the conflict.

Despite Netanyahu becoming hesitant about bombing Hezbollah since the talks with the US, the NYT reported that "anxieties still persist" that a second front in the north remains possible. 

The trigger could be caused by "harsh Israeli tactics" used in the expected ground offensive in Gaza or an Israeli overreaction to Hezbollah attacks.