Hochstein reportedly asked Hezbollah to limit attacks to Shebaa
White House envoy Amos Hochstein is visiting Paris Wednesday to meet with Macron's Lebanon envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian, after he visited Israel and Lebanon in June.
Hochstein discussed with Lebanese politicians a cease-fire on the Lebanon-Israel border and requested via intermediaries that Hezbollah apply pressure on Hamas to accept a cease-fire and hostage-exchange proposal put forward by U.S. President Joe Biden. Hezbollah rejected the request.
Hochstein also urged Hezbollah to limit its attacks to the occupied Shebaa Farms, pro-Hezbollah al-Akhbar newspaper reported Wednesday. The calm along the border would allow the displaced Lebanese and Israelis to return to the border villages.
Hezbollah says the only sure path to a cease-fire on the Lebanon-Israel border is a full cease-fire in Gaza.
Talks of a cease-fire in Gaza have faltered in recent weeks, raising fears of an escalation on the Lebanon-Israel front. Hezbollah has traded near-daily strikes with Israeli forces along their border over the past nine months.
The low-level conflict between Israel and Hezbollah has displaced tens of thousands on both sides of the Israel-Lebanon border. In northern Israel, 16 soldiers and 11 civilians have been killed; in Lebanon, more than 450 people — mostly fighters but also dozens of civilians — have been killed.
Source: Naharnet
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