Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament Nabih Berri
Amos Hochstein, the special adviser and special envoy of the US President, met with the Lebanese authorities during his visit to Beirut last week. Hochstein told Lebanese officials that Hezbollah was mistaken if it thought the United States could prevent Israel from launching ground operations in southern Lebanon.
Hochstein met with the Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament Nabih Berri in Beirut and asked him to deliver a message to Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah.
Hochstein asserted that Hezbollah’s speculations about the US having control over Israel are inaccurate. The United States cannot stop Israel. If the border situation remains critical, Israel will intensify its attacks, and Hezbollah should negotiate with Israel instead of increasing tensions.
Amos Hochstein
Amos Hochstein is an American-Israeli businessman who is active in the field of energy and has worked in various countries, including Ukraine. Before the Ukrainian war, he was a member of the oil and gas monitoring board of Ukraine, and during the war, he helped European countries to replace Russian oil and gas with other sources of energy.
After the start of the war in Palestine, Hochstein traveled to Beirut and Tel Aviv many times on behalf of the United States and provided consultations to prevent the escalation of the war between Hezbollah and Israel. Through Lebanese government officials, he has made various proposals to persuade Hezbollah to withdraw from southern Lebanon and stop attacks against Israel, but he has not been successful so far.
It seems that one of the main reasons for Hochstein’s failure is his one-sided role. Instead of a mediator, he has become a mouthpiece for Israel’s threats.
Amos Hochstein, Nabih Berri
Nabih Berri, the head of the Lebanese Parliament and leader of the Amal movement, has taken a firm stand since Hochstein left Lebanon. This demonstrates that Hochstein’s unilateral mediation is not satisfactory for the Lebanese authorities.
Nabih Berri said: “We met with the American envoy Hockstein and we were waiting for answers from him after his trip to Tel Aviv, but there was no news, and this causes us to have no confidence in the American action for peace. To create peace, Hochstein demanded that Hezbollah withdraw eight kilometers from the border, and I also demanded that the Israeli army withdraw eight kilometers from the border.”
Nabih Berri warned that if the Israeli forces launch a ground attack, the Amal forces will be waiting for them and will fight with Israel on the front lines, even ahead of Hezbollah.
Hezbollah also sent messages through third parties to the United States, stating that although it did not want war, the movement is confident that it could severely damage Israel if it attacked Lebanon.
Hezbollah had already told Hochstein in a decisive message that if we discover preparations for an Israeli attack on Lebanon, we will consider a pre-emptive attack.
Yesterday, Hochstein met with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in Washington for further coordination. In this meeting, they discussed the transfer of messages between Israeli and Lebanese authorities and Phase C of Israel’s attack.
Amos Hochstein, Yoav Gallant
The third phase, according to Israel’s definition, includes low-intensity fighting in Gaza, targeted airstrikes, the withdrawal of forces, the creation of a buffer zone near the Gaza border, and finding an alternative to Hamas rule in this area.
However, the transition to “Phase C” in the Gaza war will greatly affect developments on all fronts, including the war with Hezbollah. Certainly, this action by Israel is an escalation of the conflict and will affect all fronts of the conflict from Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen, and Netanyahu’s government must prepare for all military possibilities and political consequences.
MORE ON THE TOPIC:
