Report: Hochstein anew demands Hezbollah pullback from border

U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein has recently called Speaker Nabih Berri and renewed the demand that Hezbollah pull back its forces “for a few kilometers from the border with Israel,” the Nidaa al-Watan newspaper reported on Thursday.

Berri answered that Hezbollah would “withdraw from the entire south on the condition that Israel implement Resolution 1701,” the daily added.

Cross-border exchanges between Israel and Hezbollah have killed at least 271 people on the Lebanese side since October 8, most of them Hezbollah fighters but also including 42 civilians. On the Israeli side, 10 soldiers and six civilians have been killed, according to the Israeli army.

The fighting has also displaced tens of thousands of residents on both sides of the border and Israel has repeatedly warned that it might use force against Hezbollah to secure its residents' return.