US envoy Amos Hochstein meeting Prime Minister Najib Mikati at the Grand Serail in Beirut, January 11, 2024. (Credit: Mikati's press office."
BEIRUT — US special envoy Amos Hochstein said Thursday that there is an inability to reach a long-term agreement regarding the fighting along Lebanon's border with Israel, and that, in the meantime, it is important to work on calming tensions between Hezbollah and Israel.
Hochstein's statements came after meeting Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati in Beirut as part of his visit to find a diplomatic solution to the ongoing clashes between Hezbollah and Israel. This was his second visit since the start of the war in Gaza on Oct. 7.
According to a statement sent by Mikati's office, reported on by our correspondent Hoda Shedid, Hochstein affirmed "the importance of working on calming the situation in southern Lebanon, even if there is an inability for a possible final agreement at the moment."
He also asked for working on a "middle ground, temporary solution so that things don't worsen."
According to a report from Reuters, Hochstein said the US "would like to see a diplomatic solution," and "it is our job to get one."
For his part, Mikati affirmed that the "priority should be a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to Israeli aggression in Lebanon as well as and end to the repeated Israeli violations of Lebanese sovereignty."
Hochstein also met with Lebanese Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri on Thursday. Speaking from Berri's office in Ain al-Tineh, Hochstein said that "we are in a difficult stage, and I am sure that the Lebanese people do not want things to deteriorate."
He also added that "the Israeli government has confirmed its preference for a diplomatic solution, and I believe that is what both parties want, in Israel as well as in Lebanon."
In 2022, Hochstein successfully mediated a maritime demarcation deal between Lebanon and Israel. The neighboring countries had been in a state of war for decades before a deal was reached in October of that year.
Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging consistent and fierce fire in southern Lebanon since Oct. 8. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has described the fighting as a "support front," in solidarity with the party's ally in Gaza, Hamas, and its al-Aqsa Flood operation.