Washington, DC – The United States has said it does not want further escalation between Israel and Hezbollah after the Lebanese armed group blamed Israel for a series of deadly, coordinated hand-held explosions.

But the administration of US President Joe Biden, which remains Israel’s main military and diplomatic backer, also sought on Tuesday to downplay its ability to contain tensions between the two countries.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday afternoon, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Washington had no involvement in the apparent attack and had not been informed in advance that it would take place.

“I would like to say that our general policy remains unchanged. We want a diplomatic solution to the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah,” Miller said. “We are always concerned about events that could lead to further escalation.”

However, when asked whether the Biden administration’s influence – the US provides Israel with $3.8 billion annually in military aid and dedicated diplomatic support – could be used to prevent a major war, Miller said this was “not just a question for the United States”.

“Of course, this is a question of first importance to Israel. It is a question for Hezbollah, but also for all other countries in the region, what kind of region they want to live in,” he said.

“The United States will therefore continue to push for a diplomatic solution.”

Miller’s comments come as human rights activists have called on the Biden administration to pressure Israel to end its war in Gaza, which has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians and decimated the Palestinian coastal enclave since early October.

Analysts have repeatedly accused Washington of acting as both “arsonist and firefighter” by continually refusing to provide military assistance to its “ironclad” ally, despite the risk that a prolonged Gaza war could lead to a broader escalation in the region.

Hezbollah, which has exchanged cross-border shelling with Israel since the start of the Gaza war, blamed Israel for Tuesday’s pager explosions and promised the country would receive “just punishment.”

There has been no comment from the Israeli army on the explosions so far.

Lebanon’s health minister said the pager explosions killed at least nine people across Lebanon, including an eight-year-old girl, and injured about 2,750 people, including 200 in critical condition.

When asked about the apparently random nature of the explosions, Miller of the US State Department declined to comment directly on the incidents.

However, he said the broader US position is that “no country or organization should deliberately target civilians.”

“Mud on the face”

The explosions came as the Biden administration continues to say it is pushing for a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian faction that governs the territory.

On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to the Middle East for the latest meeting with mediators.

“President Biden doesn’t have much time, with the US election less than 60 days away,” Al Jazeera’s Kimberly Halkett reported from Washington, DC.

“So if Israel is indeed responsible for the explosions in Lebanon, that is certainly discouraging for the United States.”

The deadly explosions also occurred less than a day after White House adviser Amos Hochstein met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to push for de-escalation along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon.

Following the meeting, Netanyahu’s office issued a defiant statement saying Israelis could not return to the evacuated areas along the Lebanese border “without a fundamental change in the security situation in the north.”

Ramy Khoury, a distinguished scholar at the American University of Beirut, described the Israeli reaction to the US appeal as “normal.”

“The Israelis not only regularly ignore what the Americans tell them, they also throw dirt in their faces,” Khoury told Al Jazeera.

“The Americans’ ability to act diplomatically is very limited. They are more focused on military support for Israel and sanctions against Israel’s enemies.”

Khoury added that the US’s “diplomatic efforts are not taken very seriously by most people in the region” because the country unconditionally supports Israel.

“The United States should be a major diplomatic player,” he said. “But they are clearly on Israel’s side and everything they do has to be aligned with Israel’s priorities.”