US envoy heads to Tel Aviv and Beirut amid escalation on Israel-Lebanon border

Amos Hochstein's visit follows increase in attacks between Israeli forces and Hezbollah in recent weeks

US envoy Amos Hochstein during a visit to Beirut in March. Reuters

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US envoy Amos Hochstein met Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday during a trip to Israel in the latest diplomatic push to prevent an escalation in fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah from turning into a full-blown war.

He also met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog to discuss "the urgent need to restore security to the northern border and return residents to their homes," according to the President's office.

He will also meet separately with former war cabinet member Benny Gantz and opposition leader Yair Lapid on Monday evening, before flying to Beirut for his fourth visit to Lebanon since the fighting began.

Mr Hochstein's goal is to advance efforts to avoid further escalation along the Blue Line between the countries, according to a White House official. The UN-demarcated boundary separates Lebanon from Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

His trip comes amid escalating violence along the border, which has seen daily exchanges of fire since Hezbollah opened a “pressure front” in support of its ally Hamas, the Iran-backed Palestinian militant group in Gaza, on October 8.

Hamas has faced a devastating Israeli military offensive in Gaza after launching a deadly attack on southern Israel a day earlier.

Hezbollah last week launched its largest volleys of rockets and drones so far in retaliation for the killing of one of its most prominent field commanders, Sami Abdallah, in an Israeli strike on Tuesday.

A Hezbollah source declined to comment on Mr Hochstein's latest attempt to defuse the conflict.

“We are waiting for the visit, his positions, and his discussions with officials first,” the source told The National.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has maintained that his group will continue its attacks until Israel ends its assault on Gaza.

On Monday, Hezbollah announced the death of one of its fighters, Mohammad Mustafa Ayoub. The total fatalities on the Lebanese side stand at least 473 people, including 92 civilians, according to an AFP tally.

The Israeli military says 18 soldiers and 10 civilians have been killed in northern Israel.

Israel has repeatedly threatened Lebanon with a full-scale war if Hezbollah, a much stronger militia than Hamas, does not withdraw from its positions near the border. It has set a September deadline for the safe return of tens of thousands of people forced to flee their homes in northern Israel because of the fighting.

“Hezbollah's increasing aggression is bringing us to the brink of what could be a wider escalation, one that could have devastating consequences for Lebanon and the entire region,” Israeli military spokesman Admiral Daniel Hagari said on Monday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this month that Israel was “prepared for a very intense operation” along the border with Lebanon.

UN officials in Lebanon have warned of the “very real” risk of miscalculation in the cross-border exchanges.

“We continue to engage with the parties and urge all actors to cease their fire and commit to working towards a political and diplomatic solution – which is the only lasting solution,” UN Special Co-ordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert and Lt Gen Aroldo Lazaro, head of the UN forces deployed in the country, said in a joint-statement on Sunday.

Diplomatic push

Diplomatic efforts led by Mr Hochstein, who mediated a historic agreement between Israel and Lebanon in late 2022 that ended their long-running maritime border dispute, have been fruitless.

He has been pursuing a deal to demarcate the disputed land border between the two countries, as a way of defusing tensions. The first phase entails the cessation of hostilities, allowing evacuees from both sides to return home and the strengthening of the Lebanese armed forces. The second phase would involve an economic package for Lebanon.

The US has no direct contacts with Hezbollah, which it considers a terrorist group. Lebanon's Speaker of Parliament, Nabih Berri, who heads the Amal Movement close to Hezbollah, caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib and caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati have been serving as the US's main interlocutors.

France, a former colonial power that has maintained a strong influence over the small Mediterranean country, is also part of the diplomatic push.

In February, it submitted a proposal involving the withdrawal of certain Hezbollah elements along the border, in exchange for Israel ceasing its air and artillery strikes and, ultimately, halting flights by military aircraft over Lebanese territory.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that France, the US and Israel would form a contact group to work on defusing tensions along the border.

“We have agreed on the principle of a trilateral approach to advance on the road map proposed by France. We will do the same with the Lebanese authorities,” Mr Macron said on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Italy.

His proposal was rejected the next day by Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, who accused Paris of being hostile towards Israel.

“As we fight a just war, defending our people, France has adopted hostile policies against Israel,” Mr Gallant said. “Israel will not be a party to the trilateral framework proposed by France.”