Amos Hochstein is coming to Beirut to help end the Hezbollah-Israel war and help Lebanon elect a new president

Amos J. Hochstein the Special Presidential Coordinator for Global Infrastructure and Energy Security is coming to Beirut to try and end the war with Israel and help Lebanon elect a president. He reportedly was asked to head to Lebanon after the Berlin meeting which was attended by US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany

This is what he wrote on X , formerly Twitter

US Middle East envoy Amos Hochstein says he will visit Lebanon very soon pic.twitter.com/Tn3JIkPpjw

— S p r i n t e r (@SprinterFamily) October 18, 2024

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said on Saturday “US Presidential Envoy Amos Hochstein requested an appointment today with me at my residence in Ain al-Tineh, after the communication was cut off for a long time.”

He stressed that “the presidency of the republic is necessary, but a ceasefire must be reached”

In a statement to Al Jadeed TV, he said that “Resolution 1701 is a key issue , but dismissed Resolution 1559 as ” being related to the Syrian era and the militias at that time, and also included withdrawal from the occupied territories, and today there is only Resolution 1701 only”.

Resolution 1559 calls for disarming all the militias in Lebanon.

All the militias in Lebanon handed over their arms in 1990 at the end of the civil war but Hezbollah which was and still is allied with the Syrian regime refused to hand over its arms. Berri who is Hezbollah’s key ally is currently representing the heavily armed Hezbollah in all the political negotiations.

In response to the American talk about “1701 +”, he pointed out that “I personally do not know about the “+”, and we are committed to Resolution 1701 as it is, and this is the unified official position of the Lebanese state”.

According to reliable sources Israel and the US want Hezbollah to withdraw several miles north from the green line separating Israel and Lebanon. This is reportedly what the + means

“Berri knows this but is trying to act dumb,” one observer told Ya Libnan

Berri stressed in commenting on the upcoming Paris conference, that it is “necessary and in the interest of Lebanon, and will discuss aid and a political solution.”

His comment about the Paris meeting comes a day after the condemnation of many Lebanese leaders of the statement made by Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf  to the French newspaper “Le Figaro” over resolution 1701 in which he reportedly said that Iran is ready to negotiate with France the terms of the resolution

Some Lebanese leaders including PM Najib Mikati considered the statement as a blatant violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty and as “conclusive evidence of the Iranian regime’s exploitation of the Lebanese war to serve their interests.”