US envoy Amos Hochstein lands in Beirut for talks with officials

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
30 Aug 2023 13:29

American envoy Amos Hockstein arrives in Beirut for discussions with Lebanese officials focusing on efforts to ease tensions in the region.

U.S. Envoy for Energy Affairs Amos Hochstein meets with Lebanon's Electricity Minister Walid Fayad in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, June 13, 2022 (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

The American envoy, Amos Hockstein, landed in the Lebanese capital of Beirut today, Wednesday, as part of a visit aimed at conducting discussions with senior Lebanese officials.

"Amos Hockstein, Senior Advisor to President Biden for Energy and Infrastructure Affairs, is visiting Lebanon from August 30 to 31 to follow up on the historic maritime border agreement reached in October 2022," the US embassy in Lebanon announced in a statement.

The Embassy further stated that Hockstein will also delve into "areas of mutual and regional interest" during his time in Lebanon.

A recent report by Axios shows that Hochstein's visit to Lebanon comes as part of the Biden administration's efforts at ramping up diplomatic efforts to ease growing tensions between "Israel" and Lebanon, with the primary goal of preventing an outbreak of hostilities along the Palestinian-Lebanese border.

In parallel, Brett McGurk, Biden's senior Middle East advisor, and Barbara Leaf, a top diplomat at the State Department, also met with Israeli Security Minister Yoav Gallant to discuss the situation and explore potential solutions.

The United States has been persistently urging the Lebanese government to dismantle the Resistance's outposts situated beyond the blue line.

As the situation evolves, attention is also turning to the upcoming UN Security Council vote on the extension of the mandate of the UN Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL).

The Lebanese government's push to curtail UNIFIL's mandate clashes with the US and Israeli stance, which advocates for the preservation of UNIFIL's unrestricted access and movement in southern Lebanon without limitations.

It was reported yesterday that the draft resolution related to the renewal of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon's (UNIFIL) mission has been put down after a consensus was achieved among the countries involved in the force's stay in Lebanon.

This comes after minor amendments were made to the initial proposal, which will allow the resolution to go up for voting today at 5 PM.

The proposal will include the highly controversial article that allows UNIFIL to independently deploy its forces without coordinating its work with the Lebanese Armed Forces, allowing it to initiate abrupt, uncoordinated search operations.