In an effort to encourage de-escalation with Israel, United States Special Envoy Amos Hochstein met in Beirut, Lebanon, with Nabih Berri, the speaker of Parliament and leader of the Hezbollah-aligned Amal Shiite movement. Hezbollah, a Shiite terror organization funded and armed by Iran, began firing at Israel in October in solidarity with Hamas, which had launched a massive terror attack on southern Israel on October 7. As a result, Israel was forced to evacuate around 60,000 civilians from its northern border towns.
While the Iron Dome system has been helpful in intercepting missiles, Hezbollah’s anti-tank missiles fly too low for effective detection, and rockets it fires into open areas have caused major fires. Israel has responded carefully to these attacks, first by responding to the sources of fire and then by targeting Hezbollah commanders. The situation is now close to an all-out war, with Israel repeatedly warning that the current state of affairs is unsustainable.
According to a report by The Times of Israel, US envoy Amos Hochstein called for “urgent” de-escalation in the cross-border exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and Israel. He emphasized that Washington wants to avoid “a greater war” in the region, describing the situation along the border as “serious.” This is why President Joe Biden dispatched Hochstein to Lebanon for a series of meetings following his brief visit to Israel yesterday.
Berri, whom Hochstein met with, is a key Hezbollah ally, as noted by Agence France-Presse in a 2018 report. Together, the two parties hold all but one of the 26 Shiite-allocated seats in Lebanon’s parliament. During his visit to Israel, Hochstein met with major officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In an attempt to secure calm, he brokered a gas deal between Israel and Lebanon in 2022, in which Israel ceded offshore gas fields; however, the situation has since taken a dangerous turn as Hezbollah continues to escalate tensions with Israel.
Hezbollah’s presence on the Israeli border violates United Nations Security Council Resolution 1707 (2006), but neither the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL) nor Lebanon has made any effort to enforce this resolution. With tensions continuing to rise, the international community is closely watching developments in the region and hoping for a peaceful resolution to this dangerous conflict.