US special envoy Amos Hochstein arrived in Israel on Monday in a bid to diffuse tensions with Lebanon amid Israeli calls for a wider war and ground invasion.
Hochstein’s schedule includes meetings with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. He is likely to visit Lebanon after meeting the senior Israeli figures.
Washington and other Western governments are finding ways to end tensions between Lebanon and Israel after nearly a year of cross-border hostilities between the Israeli military and Hezbollah.
The violence erupted over Israel’s war on Gaza, and Hezbollah has led what it calls a "support front" for the Palestinians.
It is not confirmed if Lebanon is the next port of call but he has made frequently visited the country after trips to Israel. He played a key role in the landmark maritime border deal between the enemy states in 2022.
In a call with his US counterpart Lloyd Austin, Israel’s Gallant said the chances of reaching a deal with Hezbollah were "diminishing" as the group continues to associate itself with its Palestinian ally, Hamas, suggesting that the trend of where things were headed with Hezbollah was "clear".
Gallant stressed "Israel's commitment to removing Hezbollah's presence in southern Lebanon and enabling the safe return of the people of northern Israel to their homes", according to a defence ministry statement with thousands of Israelis leaving their homes in the north of the country due to daily rocket and drone fire.
Hezbollah has refused to lay down its arms before a ceasefire in Gaza is reached.
Sources close to Netanyahu are said to be pressuring Gallant to step down as he allegedly refuses to expand military operations in southern Lebanon, as reported by Israeli media.
The premier and defence chief have been at odds over the war on Gaza and fighting with Hezbollah for many months, often getting into verbal altercations.
While some extremist Israeli officials support a full ground invasion of south Lebanon – part of which Israel occupied between 1982 and 2000 – others have warned of the devastating consequences this could have on Israel.
Hezbollah in turn has warned of such a move, saying any future war will have "no limits."
In the latest threat, the Israeli military’s Northern Command said it was "ready" to occupy the "security belt", referring to the Lebanese side of the frontier.
While Israeli aerial bombing and shelling have mainly targeted south Lebanese border villages, it has conducted airstrikes in the eastern Beqaa region, and twice targeted south of Beirut, killing a senior Hamas official and Hezbollah’s number two in January and July respectively.
The violence has killed over 600 people in Lebanon, mostly fighters but also including at least 141 civilians, among them children, paramedics and journalists.
On the Israeli side, including in the annexed Golan Heights, authorities have announced the deaths of at least 24 soldiers and 26 civilians as a result of Hezbollah drone and missile attacks, although the Lebanese group believes the number to be higher.
War before the election?
Israeli newspaper Haaretz last week reported that the Biden administration was gravely concerned that a full-scale war could break between Israel and Hezbollah before the crucial US vote in November.
"The Northern Command, where most senior leaders in Israel are pressing to intensify attacks, feels that the moment is right," Haaretz quoted Israeli journalist Amos Harel as saying, in comments he made to the Anadolu Agency.
"The areas south of the Litani River (in south Lebanon) have become almost empty, and Hezbollah has moved some of its fighters to the north [of the river]," Harel said.
Tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border have been forced from their towns because of the crossfire. Netanyahu and his government are under pressure from northern Israeli residents to help facilitate their return home.
Some in the Israeli military have called for the invasion of Lebanon to end the daily assaults.
"The Americans, as evidenced by a long series of speeches and side conversations in Washington, oppose any large-scale Israeli attack on Lebanon, and fear that this will lead to igniting the entire Middle East and destabilising the oil market ahead of the US presidential election," according to Harel.
Israeli commentator Nadav Eyal wrote on X last week that the US is "deeply concerned about the growing risk of a broader regional conflict, especially in the run-up to its presidential election in November".
"Preventing this escalation, in addition to securing the release of the hostages and stopping the war in Gaza, is a priority for the Biden administration. However, the timings are not synchronised: the timing of the American elections and the timing of increasing Israeli pressure regarding Hezbollah," he added.