US envoy says he is working “tirelessly” for a ceasefire in Lebanon
The US president’s special envoy, Amos Hochstein, said on Friday that Washington was working “relentlessly” for a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah, who have been at war for three weeks. “We want the whole conflict to end”he told Lebanese television channel LBCI from Washington. “We are working tirelessly on this issue”.
These comments came as the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) assessed that Israeli army fire posed a risk. “very high risk” for its soldiers, caught under crossfire in recent days.
Hezbollah opened a front against Israel on October 8, 2023, exchanging fire for almost a year on the Lebanese-Israeli border as part of a simmering conflict, in ” support “ to its Palestinian ally Hamas in Gaza. The conflict took a completely different turn when Israel launched a bombing campaign on September 23, entering into open war against the pro-Iran movement.
This escalation of the conflict has left more than 1,200 dead in Lebanon and displaced more than a million people. Reviewing recent events, Hochstein said reports of Israeli attacks on peacekeepers in southern Lebanon were “unacceptable”. “Unfortunately, we witnessed an attack that affected UNIFIL positions. “This is unacceptable.”declared. He also sent his condolences to the families of two soldiers who the Lebanese army said were killed in an Israeli attack in the south of the country on Friday.
The Israeli attacks targeted mainly the southeast of the country, but also the southern suburbs of Beirut, strongholds of Hezbollah. But the Israeli military has attacked the heart of Beirut three times recently, including attacks Thursday night in a densely populated residential area, alarming the capital’s residents.
The US envoy said the Israeli attacks on the central neighborhoods of Basta and Noueiri on Thursday night, in which 22 people were killed, were “totally unacceptable”. “We are trying to stop these bombings. “We do not like this bombing campaign in a densely populated city like Beirut.”said Mr. Hochstein.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Friday called on the UN to adopt a resolution to “immediate ceasefire”.
