Hochstein holds 'good' talks with Berri

U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein’s held a “good” meeting Tuesday with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, parliamentary sources informed on the talks said.

“This is reflected in the course that the Americans are taking and the efforts that they are exerting to prevent an expansion of the conflict,” the sources told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper in remarks published Wednesday.

“All indications on the Lebanese side confirm that things are still under control, but we cannot guarantee Israel,” the sources added.

Annahar newspaper meanwhile reported that Hochstein told Berri that Washington is willing, once the battles stop, to help resolve the land border dispute between Lebanon and Israel.

Hochstein on Tuesday urged for calm to return to Lebanon's southern border with Israel, after weeks of skirmishes following the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

"The United States does not want to see conflict in Gaza escalating and expanding into Lebanon," Hochstein told a press conference in Beirut.

Since Hamas militants launched a shock October 7 attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip, Lebanon's southern border has seen intensifying tit-for-tat exchanges, mainly between Israel and Hezbollah, an ally of the Palestinian group, stoking fears of a broader conflagration.