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The visit by the adviser, Amos Hochstein, comes as cross-border clashes between Israel’s military and the powerful Lebanese militia have intensified.
Sept. 16, 2024, 5:43 a.m. ET
One of President Biden’s most trusted advisers is expected to arrive in Israel on Monday amid deepening concern that months of cross-border violence between Israel and Hezbollah, the powerful Lebanese militia, could escalate into a larger regional war.
Hezbollah and Israel’s military have been trading near-daily fire since last October, when the start of the war in Gaza prompted the Iran-backed militia to launch rocket attacks on northern Israel in solidarity with Hamas. The cross-border clashes have intensified, and Israel’s reduced combat operations in Gaza have freed up more of its forces for a possible offensive in the north against Hezbollah.
The visit by the adviser, Amos Hochstein, is part of efforts by the Biden administration to prevent “an escalation and a widening of this conflict,” John Kirby, a White House spokesman, told reporters last week.
“Amos’s travels are very much a continuation of the diplomacy that he’s been conducting now for many months to try to prevent a second front from opening up in the north there,” he said.
Mr. Hochstein is expected to meet with Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and defense minister, Yoav Gallant, on Monday. He has already made at least five trips to Israel and Lebanon since Mr. Biden tasked him with trying to prevent the clashes from expanding into a war that could be even more devastating than the conflict in Gaza.
Statements by Israeli officials in recent days suggest that time may be of the essence.
Mr. Gallant said on Monday that he had informed U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III in an overnight phone call that time was “running out” for a diplomatic solution.
“Hezbollah continues to ‘tie itself’ to Hamas,” Mr. Gallant said in a statement. “The trajectory is clear.”
And Mr. Netanyahu told a meeting of government officials on Sunday that the situation in Israel’s north “will not continue.”
The strikes have driven more than 150,000 people in Israel and Lebanon from their homes in the border region. Those who have fled their homes in Lebanon have received little assistance from the government, which is in the middle of a prolonged financial crisis. In Israel, the government has paid to feed and house evacuees in hundreds of hotels across the country.
In his remarks on Sunday, Mr. Netanyahu said “we will do whatever is necessary to return our residents securely to their homes.”
Liam Stack is a Times reporter who covers the culture and politics of the New York City region. More about Liam Stack
