Hochstein says window for diplomacy 'definitely there' in Israel-Hezbollah standoff

U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein has said that he “will likely head back soon” to Lebanon and Israel as part of the efforts to prevent a bigger conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.

“But I think we, this is something we do every day, not just when we're in the region. We do this also when we're here,” Hochstein added, in an interview on CBS News.

Asked whether the Israeli government has set an “end-of-January” deadline for Hezbollah to pull back from Lebanon’s border with Israel, Hochstein said: “Well, I don't know about hard deadlines, but the window for diplomacy is definitely there. And that is what (U.S.) President (Joe) Biden has said: we have to try to solve this diplomatically.”

He added: “I don't deny that the status quo of where we are now can't last forever. And that is why we need to make sure that we can get to diplomatic resolution.”

“What we need to do now is to get to two things: one is the cessation of hostilities across both sides, so that people over almost 100,000 people on each side and Lebanon and Israel are refugees in their own countries, because they can't live in southern Lebanon or in northern Israel,” Hochstein said.

He added: “We also have to make sure that Israelis and Lebanese can live in their homes with security. And that is not just a ceasefire, it requires a more intricate piece of the negotiations to ensure that the Lebanese army is in that area, that there is more parameters of security for civilians.”

“Once we do that, though, we do need to start looking at how do we mark the border, an actual border, between the two countries so that we can have long term security and long term peace in an area that's seen so many rounds of conflict over the last several years,” Hochstein went on to say.

Since the outbreak of war between Hamas and Israel on October 7, the Lebanese-Israeli border has witnessed a daily exchange of fire between Israel's army and Hezbollah. At least 206 people have been killed in south Lebanon, 151 of them belonging to Hezbollah. According to Israeli authorities, 15 Israelis have been killed in the northern border area, including nine soldiers and six civilians.

The fighting has also displaced tens of thousands of residents on both sides of the border and Israel has warned that it is ready to use military force to return its settlers to their homes.