Hochstein to Visit Beirut Seeking to Ease Israel-Lebanon Tensions

US Senior Advisor for Energy Security Amos Hochstein meets with Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati in Beirut, Lebanon June 14, 2022. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir/File Photo

Senior White House advisor Amos Hochstein is expected to arrive early next week in Beirut for talks with Lebanese officials as part of efforts to appease the situation along the Israel-Lebanon border.
On Sunday, unnamed informed sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Hochstein’s talks with Lebanese officials will “carry new developments” regarding his shuttle discussions between Tel Aviv and Beirut in parallel with the efforts aiming for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Hochstein had visited Beirut in January in a bid to explore the possibility of talks on drawing the land border between Lebanon and Israel, after having mediated a 2022 deal setting the maritime borders between the two countries.
After meeting several officials then, he said that “we are living a moment of crisis”, and that there is a great need to find a diplomatic solution.
He stressed the need for reaching a diplomatic solution that allows Lebanese people to return to their homes in the south, and the Israelis to return to their homes in the north.
Hochstein’s talks with officials in Lebanon focused on the need for a ceasefire and the implementation of UN resolution 1701, in addition to Hezbollah’s withdrawal from the area between the border and the Litani River.