In Beirut, US envoy says deal to calm border is ‘both achievable and urgent’

US envoy Amos Hochstein calls for the “urgent” de-escalation in cross-border exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and Israel.

“The conflict… between Israel and Hezbollah has gone on for long enough,” the presidential envoy says on a visit to Beirut. “It’s in everyone’s interest to resolve it quickly and diplomatically — that is both achievable and it is urgent.”

Hochstein says Washington is seeking to avoid “a greater war” in the region, describing the situation along the border as “serious,” and says that is why US President Joe Biden dispatched him to Lebanon. Hochstein is in Lebanon for one day of meetings following his brief trip to Israel yesterday.

“A ceasefire in Gaza and, or, an alternative diplomatic solution could also bring the conflict across the Blue Line to an end” and allow the return of displaced civilians to southern Lebanon and northern Israel, the envoy adds.