Report: Hochstein told Lebanon US can't hold Israel back if escalation continues

During his visit to Beirut last week, U.S. President Joe Biden's envoy Amos Hochstein told Lebanese officials that Hezbollah would be wrong to think the U.S. would be able to stop Israel from invading Lebanon if the group continues its attacks, a U.S. official, an Israeli official and a Western diplomat briefed on the issue told U.S. news portal Axios.

"The situation is serious. What President Biden wants to do is to avoid a further escalation to a greater war," Hochstein said before leaving Beirut last Tuesday for a second meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem.

"It will take everyone's interest in ending this conflict now. And we believe that there is a pathway diplomatically to do it. If the sides agree to it," Hochstein said.

During his meeting with Speaker Nabih Berri in Beirut, Hochstein asked the Speaker to pass a message to Hezbollah's leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah that “his assumption that the U.S. controls Israel is wrong,” the sources said.

According to the sources, Hochstein said the U.S. won't be able to hold Israel back if the situation on the border continues to escalate and that Hezbollah needs to indirectly negotiate with Israel instead of ratcheting up tensions.

A Western diplomat said that after Hochstein's visit, Hezbollah sent messages back to the U.S. through third parties saying that while it doesn't want a war, the group is also confident it can hit Israel significantly if it invades Lebanon.