BEIRUT: US special envoy Amos Hochstein said on Thursday he was hopeful diplomacy could calm tensions on the disputed border between Lebanon and Israel, where the Israeli military and armed group Hezbollah have been exchanging fire for three months.
“We need to find a diplomatic solution that will allow for the Lebanese people to return to their homes in south Lebanon ... as the people of Israel need to be able to return to their homes in their north,” he said.
Hochstein — US special presidential coordinator for global infrastructure and energy security — was speaking to reporters in Beirut, where he met top Lebanese officials on Thursday after visiting Israel.
The US envoy’s meetings included Army Commander Gen. Joseph Aoun, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri:
Hochstein stressed the necessity of “working on calming the situation in southern Lebanon, even if it is not possible to reach a final solution in the meantime.”
He also called for “working on a middle ground temporary solution so things do not worsen.”
Mikati stressed that “the priority should be a ceasefire in Gaza and the stopping of Israeli aggression in Lebanon as well as repeated Israeli violations of Lebanese sovereignty.”
He added: “We want peace and stability through adherence to international resolutions.”
Hochstein said after meeting with Berri: “It is clear that we are going through a difficult stage and a time of urgency, and I am grateful that I was able to hold meetings with the Lebanese government and with the commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces to discuss how to reach a diplomatic solution to the crisis on the border between Israel and Lebanon.”
The US envoy said that when he was in Israel last week, “I said we prefer a diplomatic solution to the current crisis.
“We had discussions, and I firmly believe that the Lebanese people do not want to see the current crisis escalate into another conflict.”
Hochstein described his talks in Beirut as “good discussions” and expressed hope that “we can continue to make this effort to reach, together, on both sides of the border, a solution that allows all people in Lebanon and Israel to reach a solution.”
The US envoy’s meetings coincided with Israeli escalation against Hezbollah along the border, with a civil defense center at the border town of Hanine being targeted.
The assault led to the killing of Dr. Ali Mahmoud Al-Sheikh Ali from the town of Rachaf and paramedic Sajid Ramzi Kassem from Aita Al-Shaab. Several others were wounded.
Hezbollah said in a statement it was “a blatant attack on a center that serves Lebanese citizens, providing relief and care to the wounded as a result of the ongoing Israeli aggression against our country and our people, and a continuation of the aggressive policy that is based on murder and terrorism.”
The Lebanese Ministry of Health denounced the targeting of the center and ambulances “in violation of international laws,” demanding safety for health workers.
Hezbollah later announced that it targeted the settlement of Kiryat Shmona with rocket salvos and a gathering of Israeli soldiers in the vicinity of the Metula site in the Galilee panhandle with missiles.
Israeli soldiers in the vicinity of Tayhat Hill and Mount Nothor “were also targeted with missiles, causing confirmed casualties.”
Sirens sounded in Metula and Israeli media reported: “For the second time during the day, an anti-tank missile was launched from Lebanon toward the settlement.”
Hezbollah, meanwhile, said that it targeted Israeli spy equipment on Cobra Hill with “appropriate weapons, causing damage and destruction.”
It said the number of Israeli attacks by drones on Hezbollah’s members has increased over the past two weeks — based on advanced technology and the hacking of Lebanese communications data.
The latest of these attacks on the commander of Hezbollah’s Radwan force, Wissam Al-Tawil, prompted the party to issue more warnings to the displaced people of the border region and those remaining in their homes.
The party also claimed that the Israel Defense Forces were using Lebanese phone numbers to contact people and gain intelligence on certain individuals.
In a statement, Hezbollah asked people in the border area not to answer callers in any inquiry related to the surroundings and the movement of people, to cut off any communications immediately and then quickly inform the relevant authorities.
Hezbollah had previously asked residents of the south to disconnect wireless surveillance cameras in front of their homes from the internet or to switch them off completely, as they they could presumably be hijacked by Israeli intelligence.
Israeli shelling has killed at least 25 Lebanese civilians and 140 fighters from Iran-backed Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. At least nine Israeli troops have been killed in northern Israel.
