A senior adviser to U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday said it was critical to take advantage of “this window for diplomatic action” to end the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip and ongoing hostilities in Lebanon, fearing that ongoing escalations could “spiral out of control.” Amos Hochstein, who has been tasked with monthslong shuttle diplomacy between Lebanon and Israel, spoke at a news conference after meeting Lebanese Speaker Nabih Berri, as the Mideast anxiously anticipates retaliatory attacks on Israel from Iran and the powerful Lebanese Hezbollah group.
Quick Read
- A senior adviser to President Biden, Amos Hochstein, urged for immediate diplomatic action to end the Israel-Hamas war and hostilities in Lebanon, warning that ongoing escalations could “spiral out of control.”
- Hochstein emphasized the critical need to use the current “window for diplomatic action” to prevent further escalation during a press conference in Beirut after meeting with Lebanese Speaker Nabih Berri.
- He highlighted the increasing risk of “accidents, mistakes, and inadvertent targets” as tensions and daily conflicts persist, which could lead to uncontrolled escalation.
- Cease-fire talks between Hamas and Israel, mediated by Qatar, Egypt, and the U.S., are expected to resume on Thursday in Doha.
- Hochstein and Berri agreed that there are “no more valid excuses from any party for any further delay” in reaching a cease-fire based on a framework proposed by President Biden.
- Hochstein noted that a cease-fire deal would also facilitate a diplomatic resolution in Lebanon, where Hezbollah and Israel have been trading strikes since October 8.
- The conflict has intensified, with notable incidents including the killing of Hezbollah’s top commander in an Israeli airstrike and the death of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in an explosion in Iran.
- Hochstein’s visit to Lebanon followed meetings with Israeli officials and comes amid ongoing efforts to prevent the regional tensions from escalating into a full-scale war.
The Associated Press has the story:
Senior Biden adviser urges ‘diplomatic action’ to end Israel-Hamas war
Newslooks- BEIRUT — (AP)
A senior adviser to U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday said it was critical to take advantage of “this window for diplomatic action” to end the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip and ongoing hostilities in Lebanon, fearing that ongoing escalations could “spiral out of control.”
Amos Hochstein, who has been tasked with monthslong shuttle diplomacy between Lebanon and Israel, spoke at a news conference after meeting Lebanese Speaker Nabih Berri, as the Mideast anxiously anticipates retaliatory attacks on Israel from Iran and the powerful Lebanese Hezbollah group.
“The more time goes by of escalated tensions the more time goes by of daily conflict the more the odds and the chances go up for accidents, for mistakes, for inadvertent targets to be hit that could easily cause escalation that goes out of control,” Hochstein said in Beirut.
Cease-fire talks are supposed to resume in Doha on Thursday between Hamas and Israel through Qatari, Egyptian and American mediators. Hochstein said he and Berri agreed there are “no more valid excuses from any party for any further delay” on a cease-fire based on a framework presented by Biden months ago. “The deal would also help enable a diplomatic resolution here in Lebanon,” the U.S. envoy added.
Hezbollah and Israel have traded strikes since Oct. 8, a day after the Palestinian Hamas group’s surprise attack into southern Israel sparked the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the besieged Gaza Strip. Hezbollah says it will stop its attacks on northern Israel once there is a cease-fire in Gaza.
However, the initial exchanges along the battered border towns of Lebanon and Israel have since expanded and intensified. Last month, a rare Israeli airstrike in southern Beirut killed Hezbollah’s top commander who Israel accused of firing a rocket into Majdal Shams in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights that killed 12 youths. Hours later, an explosion in Iran killed Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh that Tehran blamed on Israel.
Over the past two weeks, the region has been on a knife-edge, as diplomatic efforts continue to prevent the monthslong regional tensions from spiraling into all-out war. Iran and Hezbollah say they are committed to their retaliatory attack. Hochstein’s visit to Lebanon comes after he met with Israeli officials on Tuesday. He is scheduled to meet with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Lebanon’s army chief.
