(Beirut) An American envoy called Thursday in Beirut for a “diplomatic solution” between Lebanon and Israel to end the clashes on their border involving the powerful Hezbollah movement and avoid an escalation.
“We must find a diplomatic solution that would allow the Lebanese to return to their homes in southern Lebanon […] and for Israelis to return to their homes in the north,” Amos Hochstein told reporters.
Exchanges of fire have pitted the Israeli army and pro-Iranian Hezbollah almost daily on the border since the start of the war in Gaza, triggered by an unprecedented attack by Palestinian Hamas, an ally of Hezbollah, on Israeli soil on October 7. .
The violence increased in intensity after a strike attributed to Israel on January 2 near Beirut, which killed Hamas’ number two, raising fears of an escalation.
“I believe that both parties prefer a diplomatic solution,” assured Mr. Hochstein, President Joe Biden’s special coordinator for energy security, on Thursday.
Mediation led by this envoy resulted in October 2022 in the signing between Lebanon and Israel of an agreement delimiting their maritime border, which ensured the distribution of gas fields offshore in the eastern Mediterranean.
Several Western officials, including the head of European Union diplomacy Josep Borrell, have been in Beirut for a week, calling for Lebanon not to be dragged into the regional conflict.
On Wednesday, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said in Beirut that an escalation of the conflict “would be a catastrophe for both countries.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who completed a tour of the Middle East on Thursday, also called for trying to avoid a spillover of the conflict in the region, where Hamas has allies with armed groups supported by the ‘Iran.
Border dispute
Mr. Hochstein, who visited Israel last week, met the Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament and Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Thursday.
“We want peace and stability, based on UN resolutions. But the priority must be a ceasefire in Gaza, an end to Israeli aggression against Lebanon,” the latter declared on Thursday.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant indicated last week that Israel preferred “the diplomatic route to the military route” to restore calm on the northern border.
But on Wednesday, Israeli army chief of staff Herzi Halevi warned that Israeli soldiers would know how to fight in Lebanon “if necessary.”
A Western diplomatic source in Beirut who requested anonymity said a diplomatic solution could include a settlement of the border dispute between Lebanon and Israel, which would withdraw from territories claimed by Beirut.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said on January 5 that the attacks carried out by his group had placed Lebanon “in a position of strength” in the event of a settlement of the border dispute with Israel “after the end of the aggression against Gaza” .
Since the start of border violence on October 8, 190 people have been killed in Lebanon, including 141 Hezbollah fighters, according to an AFP count. Israel reported 14 deaths, including nine soldiers, on its northern border.
More than 72,000 people were also displaced in southern Lebanon according to the UN, and tens of thousands of others were evacuated across the border by Israeli authorities.