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Senior US envoy Amos Hochstein arrived in the Lebanese capital Beirut on Thursday amid heightened tensions over cross-border clashes between Hezbollah and Israel in southern Lebanon.
In a meeting with Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Mr Hochstein called for a “temporary compromise” to ease tensions “even if it is not possible to reach a final solution agreement at the present time.”
“I firmly believe that the people of Lebanon do not want to see an escalation of the current crisis to a further conflict,” Mr Hochstein said after meeting with parliament speaker Nabih Berri.
“We need to find a diplomatic solution that will allow for the Lebanese people to return to their homes in South Lebanon and to go back to their normal lives, as the people of Israel need to be able to return to their homes in their north, to be able to live with security.”
Asked if there was a willingness from Israel to negotiate, particularly after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said there would be no negotiation without a ceasefire in Gaza, Mr Hochstein said “there is a narrow window, but that they prefer a diplomatic solution”.
Mr Mikati said the priority must be a ceasefire in Gaza, and an end to Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon and violations of Lebanese sovereignty.
“We want peace and stability through adherence to international resolutions,” Mr Mikati said.
Mr Hochstein would explore efforts for a ceasefire, a US official said before the meeting, and would also discuss the demarcation of Lebanon and Israel’s contested land border.
There are believed to be 13 contested points, as well as the occupied Shebaa Farms.
Lebanese armed group Hezbollah says its attacks are a response to Israel’s war in Gaza, the Palestinian enclave ruled by its ally Hamas. But its leader Hassan Nasrallah has also hinted that the fighting represents an opportunity for Lebanon to reclaim lands that it considers part of its territory.
The US and French diplomacies have recently multiplied “exchanges between Hezbollah and Israel”, a western diplomat told media.
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