US envoy Amos Hochstein (left) received at Ain al-Tineh by Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on the first day of his visit to Beirut, March 4, 2024. (Credit: Mohammad Yassine/L'Orient Today)
BEIRUT — United States Special Envoy Amos Hochstein arrived early Monday afternoon in Beirut, the US Embassy in Lebanon announced — the same day Hezbollah said it had foiled two Israeli attempts at a ground incursion into southern Lebanon overnight.
In an interview with L'Orient Today two weeks ago, Lebanese Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri said that Hochstein is meant to be presenting a written document containing the results of recent meetings with Lebanese and Israeli officials, and his proposal to resolve the conflict at the Israel-Lebanon border. It's expected that this visit, Hochstein's latest in a long string off diplomatic trips to Lebanon, will involve presenting the document.
His trip comes in the midst of Gaza truce negotiations reportedly progressing toward a deal for the month of Ramadan, beginning next week. In southern Lebanon, tensions between Hezbollah and Israel are testing new limits as both sides having engaged in clashes well beyond the rules of engagement.
Upon his arrival, Hochstein met in Ain al-Tineh with Berri, after which he told reporters that a truce between Israel and Hamas "will not systematically extend to Lebanon."
"We are working with international partners to promote a peaceful solution in Lebanon," said Hochstein, who is a senior adviser to US President Joe Biden, adding that "escalation is dangerous. There is no such thing as a limited war."
According to him, "an escalation will not help either the Lebanese or the Israelis to return to their homes."
Tens of thousands of residents have been evacuated since early October 2023, on both sides of the border. In Lebanon, over 80,000 have been displaced, but many remain as their only source of income depends on being able to continue farming on the land.
Hochstein is also expected to meet with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib, Lebanese Army Chief Joseph Aoun, and former Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt.
US media has recently cited US officials as explicitly expressing their concerns about a possible Israeli ground incursion into Lebanon the first time since the start of the Gaza war.
Early Monday morning, Hezbollah announced that at 11:45 p.m., its fighters had targeted an Israeli force trying to "cross into Lebanon," in the area of Wadi Qatmoun, opposite the Lebanese village of Rmaish, Bint Jbeil district.
Hezbollah also said that it donated a large explosive device half an hour later targeting a group of Israeli Golani Brigade soldiers that were also trying to "cross into Lebanon," in the area of Khirbet Zarit, opposite to the Lebanese village of Ramyah, also Bint Jbeil district.
Deputy Speaker of Parliament Elias Bou Saab told Reuters that the US envoy's visit seeks to "continue diplomatic efforts aimed at defusing the conflict on the Israeli-Lebanese border and establishing stability."
He said the timing of the visit suggested progress in efforts to secure a truce in Gaza "in the coming hours or days." He also said that Hochstein had "serious ideas that could constitute the start of a lasting solution."
On Sunday, US Vice President Kamala Harris marked a significant shift in US foreign policy when she became the first senior US official to openly call for a cease-fire in Gaza. In Washington on Monday, Harris met with Israeli Minister Benny Gantz, a member of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's war cabinet.
