US officials say they are working to quiet fighting between Israel and Hezbollah that has pushed Lebanon to the brink of all-out war — an effort complicated by the administration’s struggle to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, analysts and diplomats said, Report informs referring to The Washington Post.
Fear that months of deadly tit-for-tat violence on the Lebanese border could devolve into an even more devastating conflict peaked this month, after Israel assassinated a senior Hezbollah commander and the militant group retaliated with massive rocket barrages. This week, several countries, including Germany and Canada, warned their citizens to leave Lebanon, citing the threat of worsening hostilities.
The United States has not yet ordered its citizens to evacuate, but this week it sent an amphibious ship, the USS Wasp, carrying Marines trained for evacuations, to the Mediterranean Sea. The Pentagon has declined to comment on any evacuations plans for Lebanon.
Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group, political party and ally of Hamas, has repeatedly said that a halt to Israel’s offensive in Gaza is necessary before its fighters stand down. U.S. officials have acknowledged Hezbollah’s terms while suggesting, without providing details, that there may be options for ending the conflict on the Israel-Lebanon border without a Gaza cease-fire.
The US diplomatic efforts have been led by Amos Hochstein, a top White House energy adviser who in 2022 successfully mediated a maritime deal between Israel and Lebanon. It was a historic agreement that allowed for the demarcation of maritime borders between the two countries. Hochstein visited Lebanon this month.
Qatar, which has brokered negotiations between Israel and Hamas, has also been asked by the United States to help mediate in Lebanon, according to a person familiar with the effort who, like others interviewed about the ongoing negotiations, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomacy. Qatar’s role was first reported this week by Lebanon’s Al-Akhbar newspaper.