US envoy Amos Hochstein scheduled an urgent visit to both Tel Aviv on Monday and then Beirut on an emergency mission assigned by the US administration, aiming to “regulate the confrontation” between Israel and Hezbollah, according to Asharq Al-Awsat.
Hochstein’s visit to Beirut coincided with the return of the US ambassador to Lebanon, Lisa Johnson, the newspaper reported. Johnson met with caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdallah Bou Habib on Friday night. They assessed the escalating situation in the South, which has peaked recently, and discussed measures to keep it under control and prevent it from rolling into a wider war. Washington is reportedly not willing to provide political cover for an Israeli war against Lebanon.
Coinciding with Hochstein’s visit and Washington’s stances, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant accepted the invitation of US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to visit the Pentagon, as announced by Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder on Saturday. Gallant’s visit aims to further discuss the ongoing escalations and tensions between Hezbollah and Israel on the southern border of Lebanon.
In this context, two United Nations officials in Lebanon warned that there is a “very real” risk of any miscalculation on Lebanon’s southern border leading to a wider conflict between Hezbollah and the Israeli army. The UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, and the head of the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, Aroldo Lázaro, expressed “deep concern” about the recent developments on Lebanon’s borders.
Reports noted that this Israeli escalation and threat of a wide-scale operation aim to increase pressure on Hezbollah to retreat to the north of the Litani River. Security sources following the developments told Al-Anbaa electronic newspaper that Hezbollah refuses to succumb to Israeli conditions. This led the US administration to dispatch its envoy, Amos Hochstein, to the region to prevent the situation from sliding towards an all-out war.
The sources attributed Hochstein’s mission to the fear of an uncontrolled explosion imposed by field developments, reminiscent of the July 2006 war. According to the sources, US efforts with Israel aim to curb any drive towards war with Lebanon.
The US administration holds Hezbollah responsible for initiating the escalation, as confirmed by a Western diplomatic source to Asharq Al-Awsat. The source stated that there is no justification for expanding the confrontation, although Hezbollah sees it as a response to Israel’s assassination of one of its prominent field commanders, Talib Sami Abdallah.
