BEIRUT: US special envoy Amos Hochstein on Tuesday made a surprise visit to Beirut in a bid to help stop the Israel-Hamas war spilling into Lebanon.
During talks with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, the diplomat noted that America was committed to preventing the Gaza conflict spreading over the border following weeks of deadly skirmishes between Israeli and Hezbollah forces.
Hochstein said: “Restoring calm along the southern border is of utmost importance to the United States and it should be the highest priority for both Lebanon and Israel.”
The US representative’s trip came amid growing Lebanese anger over alleged Israeli attacks on civilian targets in southern Lebanon.
On Tuesday, the funerals took place of three children and their grandmother killed while traveling in a car on a road linking two border towns in the south of the country. The mother of the children was seriously injured.
Hezbollah MP Ali Fayyad said his party would “not tolerate any aggression targeting civilians and will retaliate twofold.”
For the past two days, diplomats have been working around the clock in a bid to cool tensions on the southern Lebanese border and avoid a larger confrontation, according to a political observer.
American officials noted that, “Tel Aviv does not intend to enter into a confrontation with Hezbollah in Lebanon.”
But on Tuesday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned that if Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah made the same mistake as Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar had in Gaza, then “Israel will decide Lebanon’s fate.”
According to the political observer, Lebanon was keen to confirm its stand that it was “in a position of self-defense in the face of the continuing Israeli attacks on Lebanese territory,” and that “it adheres to the applicable rules of engagement despite the death of a number of civilians due to the Israeli army’s violation of these rules.”
Lebanese Foreign Affairs Minister Abdallah Bou Habib has told foreign ambassadors in Lebanon of “the urgent need” to bring the Gaza conflict to a halt, and he pointed out “the crucial role of Western nations in exerting pressure on Israel, as it continues to escalate tensions to an alarming degree, posing a threat to Lebanon’s existence.”
However, Hezbollah has reportedly continued to target Israeli military sites, including one at Barkat Risha.
Israeli Army Radio said: “An anti-tank missile was launched from Lebanon at Sumra in Western Galilee.”
On Tuesday morning, the Israeli army closed streets in Upper Galilee and called on residents in 10 settlements along the border with Lebanon to “stay near safe places.”
Israeli army forces retaliated with airstrikes on what was described as “Hezbollah cells” in Labneh and Naqoura and carried out four dawn raids on Aita Al-Shaab and another on the town of Muhaibib. Army chiefs claimed two Hezbollah members were killed.
Meanwhile, the Lebanese Red Cross, with the support of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon and the Lebanese Army, retrieved the bodies of two Hezbollah members killed in an airstrike on Sunday in Jabal Balat, near the town of Marwahin.
Firas Abiad, Lebanon’s health minister, toured health centers in southern Lebanon to check their readiness for any military escalation.
On Tuesday, Lebanon’s Parliamentary Environment Committee discussed claims that Israel had been using white phosphorus bombs.
MP Ghayath Yazbek said the explosives posed significant hazards not only to humans but the environment, specifically vegetation and water sources.
