US officials have issued a warning to the Israeli occupation regarding its "limited ability to defend itself" if it were to engage in an open war with Hezbollah, the Financial Times reported Tuesday.

The report describes Hezbollah as one of the most heavily armed non-state actors in the world, highlighting the difficulty the Israeli occupation would face were it ever to engage in such an endeavor.

According to the newspaper, diplomats have conveyed that both the Israeli occupation and Hezbollah have informed the United States of their mutual desire to avoid a full-scale war.

'Israel' would lose in 24 hours

According to Newsweek, another war between "Israel" and the Lebanese Resistance, Hezbollah, could bring "untold devastation" to both and would be Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's greatest obstacle yet.

Although it would not be the first, Israeli officials are worried the situation could lead to total disaster in the region.

Eran Etzion, who served as deputy head of "Israel's" National Security Council during the last war in 2006, told Newsweek that the war would bring unprecedented destruction to "Sensitive areas" within the occupation, detailing that he believes "Israel" would lose "within 24 hours" and emphasizing that it was difficult to see how the war "can be won quickly, or at all."

"From my perspective, I think it's going to be a war that Israel will lose within the first 24 hours," he said, adding that "simply because of the pictures we will see of mass destruction in very sensitive areas within Israel on a scale we've never seen before."

According to Israeli military officials, Hezbollah has roughly 200,000 rockets, mortars, drones, surface-to-air missiles, anti-tank missiles, precision-guided munitions, and other weapons.

Moreover, the US warned "Israel" Tuesday that a clash with Hezbollah might trigger a regional war, as UN agencies reported 10 children per day losing one or both legs and half a million Palestinians suffering "catastrophic" starvation in Gaza.

Israeli media reported on Sunday that Israeli Security Minister Yoav Gallant went to the United States against the backdrop of developments in the North with Hezbollah and for fear of a comprehensive war with it and a possible ammunition shortage crisis.

Austin told reporters that another war would become regional, with "terrible consequences for the Middle East," adding that "Diplomacy is by far the best way to prevent more escalation."

Gallant told Austin at the start of the talk that "readiness in every possible scenario" should be discussed.