U.S. envoy warns Lebanon-Israel tensions could easily slip ‘out of control’

BEIRUT — A senior adviser to U.S. President Joe Biden said Wednesday it’s critical to take advantage of “this window for diplomatic action” to end the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and ongoing hostilities along the Lebanon-Israel border, fearing that escalations could spiral “out of control.”

Amos Hochstein, tasked with shuttle diplomacy between Lebanon and Israel, spoke to journalists after meeting Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, as the region anxiously anticipates retaliatory attacks from Iran and the allied Lebanese Hezbollah group on Israel. Hochstein met with Israeli officials Tuesday.

Cease-fire talks between Hamas and Israel are expected to resume in Qatar on Thursday with Qatari, Egyptian, and U.S. mediators.

Hezbollah and Israel have traded strikes since Oct. 8, a day after Palestinian Hamas terrorists’ surprise attack into southern Israel that sparked the war in Gaza. The U.S. has designated Hezbollah a terrorist organization.

“The more time goes by of escalated tensions, the more time goes by of daily conflict, the more the odds and the chances go up for accidents, for mistakes, for inadvertent targets to be hit that could easily cause escalation that goes out of control,” Hochstein said.

An Israeli strike last month in southern Beirut killed Hezbollah’s top commander, whom Israel accused of leading a rocket attack in the Golan Heights that killed 12 youths. Hours later, an explosion widely blamed on Israel killed Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh. Both Tehran and Hezbollah vowed to retaliate.

Hochstein said he and speaker Berri agreed there were “no more valid excuses from any party for any further delay” on a cease-fire based on a framework Biden presented months ago.

“The deal would also help enable a diplomatic resolution here in Lebanon,” the U.S. envoy added.

Hochstein also met with Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Army chief Gen. Joseph Aoun Hochstein.