Risk of Israel War Expanding to Other Countries Growing: Ex-NATO Commander

Former NATO Commander James Stavridis has warned that there is an "uncomfortably high" chance that the ongoing Israel-Palestinian conflict will develop into a "wider regional conflict."

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have been fighting a bloody war against Gaza-based Palestinian militant group Hamas since the group launched its surprise attack on Israel on October 7. More than 20,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, while more than 1,200 Israelis were killed in the Hamas attack, according to the Associated Press.

While the war has largely remained centered in Gaza, at least 300 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank. Meanwhile, cross-border rocket attacks by Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah and airstrikes by the IDF have resulted in 15 deaths in Israel and more than 160 in Lebanon, according to AP.

Stavridis, a retired U.S. Navy admiral who served as NATO's supreme allied commander Europe between 2009 and 2013, said during a Friday interview with MSNBC's Alex Witt that mounting tensions between Israel and Lebanon left him "extremely worried" that the war could soon expand.

"Roughly two months ago...I felt there was a 10 percent chance of this expanding into a wider regional conflict," Stavridis said. "Because if Israel attacks Hezbollah, Iran will come in in pretty significant ways. That could draw the United States in.

"I have to say, at the moment, I think the chances of that are now up to about 25 percent. One in four...very uncomfortably high."

Newsweek reached out to the IDF via email on Friday for comment.

Stavridis added that Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz, former head of the IDF, told reporters this week that time for a "diplomatic solution" was "running out" and Israel would attempt to drive Hezbollah away from the border "if the world and the Lebanese government" do not.

"I know [Gantz] extremely well," Stavridis said. "In my four years as NATO commander, I interacted with him constantly [and] remain in good contact with him today. He's a very serious, sober, understated kind of figure. So, if you've got Benny Gantz saying this could really go high order, that makes me very concerned."

Gantz is not the only Israeli official who has been firing warning signals about the possibility of war expanding because of Hezbollah. This month, IDF spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus accused the militant group of a "dragging" Lebanon into war.

"Hezbollah, who as everybody knows is a proxy of Iran, is dangerously dragging Lebanon into an unnecessary war that could have potential devastating consequences for the state of Lebanon and for the people of Lebanon," Conricus said.

The elite Iran-backed military unit Imam Hossein Division is also believed to be operating alongside Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Newsweek reported that the division, which is associated with Iran's Quds Force, was operating in Syria earlier this year, while an IDF spokesperson said last month that it had "arrived in southern Lebanon" to aid Hezbollah.