According to a leading figure in the March 8 bloc, American envoy Amos Hochstein told Speaker Nabih Berri, who received him earlier in the week, that Lebanon, and more specifically Hezbollah, should announce the suspension of military operations on the southern border.
But Berri was quick to point out that military operations in Gaza had to stop first. Amos Hochstein responded by pointing out that Israel does not consider that there is a link between Gaza and Lebanon and that a ceasefire in Gaza would not necessarily extend to southern Lebanon.
He insisted that Lebanon must take this initiative and that it is necessary to separate the two fronts, which he said would curb the bellicose zeal of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
