US mediator Amos Hochstein began a series of meetings with the Lebanese authorities in Beirut today to try to contain the climate of tension between the Shiite movement Hezbollah and Israel.
Hochstein arrived at the residence of the speaker of the Lebanese parliament, Nabih Berri, who is also the leader of the Shiite Amal group, one of Hezbollah's main allies, to take part in the first official meeting of the day, after which he is expected to make statements to the press.
Fears of an open conflict in Lebanon have been growing again for the past two weeks, after attacks attributed to Israel killed Hezbollah's top commander, Fuad Shukr, in Beirut, and the political leader of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran.
The US adviser, who brokered the historic agreement that allowed Lebanon and Israel to demarcate their maritime borders in 2022, has traveled to the Lebanese capital several times since the crossfire between Hezbollah and the Jewish state began last October.
The latest of these trips, in mid-June, also coincided with the intensification of border clashes between Israeli forces and Hezbollah, just days after a bomb attack killed a senior Shiite commander in southern Lebanon.
On that trip, Hochstein said that "a ceasefire in Gaza or an alternative diplomatic solution could also end the conflict along the Blue Line".
The so-called Blue Line is the demarcation line established by the UN between Israel and Lebanon in June 2000.
Israel and Hezbollah have been engaged in intense cross-border crossfire since 8 October 2023, the day after the start of the war in Gaza, in the worst clashes between the two sides since 2006.
Hezbollah is part of the so-called "Axis of Resistance", an Iranian-led coalition that also includes, among others, the Palestinian extremist group Hamas and the Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Today's visit by the US mediator comes on the eve of a meeting scheduled for Doha or Cairo, in which the United States of America (USA), Qatar and Egypt intend to force a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which could also halt the Lebanese front.
Hamas has already stated that it will not participate in the ceasefire negotiations, demanding a "clear commitment" from the Israeli government, which has reportedly added new demands for a truce agreement.
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