Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with US envoy Amos Hochstein, Tel Aviv, Israel, Jan. 4 2024 – Amos Ben Gershom/GPO
Senior White House adviser Amos Hochstein arrived in Israel Thursday for meetings with Israeli officials — including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — as part of Washington’s efforts to de-escalate tensions between the Israeli military and Hezbollah that have grown since the Israel-Hamas war began Oct. 7.
The visit, planned weeks ahead, came two days after Hamas senior official Saleh al-Arouri was killed in Beirut in an aerial attack attributed to Israel, and hours after an Israeli strike on Wednesday night that killed Hezbollah commander Hussein Yazbek.
On Thursday, hundreds of mourners gathered in the southern suburbs of Beirut for the funeral of Arouri and two of his associates who were also killed in the strike.
The escalation on the border has reached its highest point since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war and has seen both sides strike deeper into Lebanese and Israeli territory.
But Hochstein’s mission is facing challenges. Following his meeting with the US envoy, Netanyahu struck a defiant tone. “Bringing our citizens in the north and in the south back to their homes is part of the goals of the goal, and we will reach it either diplomatically or militarily,” he said.
Also on Thursday, the Islamic State claimed responsibility on Thursday for the twin bombings that killed 84 people in Kerman, Iran, near late Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani’s burial site.
On Wednesday, Iran labeled the bombing a “terrorist attack,” but some officials had pointed fingers at the United States and Israel.
Meanwhile, the humanitarian situation in Gaza remains dire. The United Nations said Wednesday that more than 1 million displaced Palestinians have arrived in the southern border town of Rafah in the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7.
The situation continues to deteriorate in the Strip as the war enters its 90th day, amid growing concerns that the violence will spill into a wider regional conflict.
Israel launched its air, sea and ground campaign in Gaza in retaliation for Hamas’ cross-border assault on Oct. 7, during which militants killed over 1,100 people and took 240 others hostage.
The hostilities in the coastal enclave have left more than 22,313 people dead, 70% of them women and children, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza. At least 57,296 have been wounded and around 7,000 people are still missing and are presumably under the rubble.
(Al- Monitor)
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