US working to avoid 'bigger war' between Israel and Hezbollah: Biden envoy

The US says an end to cross-border hostilities is 'urgent' as the Gaza war threatens to escalate into a major regional conflict.

The United States is working to prevent a “bigger war” between Israel and Hezbollah, a White House envoy said, as fears of a major conflict between the two sides grow.

Speaking Tuesday during a visit to Lebanon, where armed groups including Iran have engaged in near-daily clashes with Israel, Amos Hochstein said the United States was urgently seeking to defuse a conflict that has threatened to escalate since it began in October. With the Gaza war.

Hezbollah and Israel have regularly traded fire along the Israel-Lebanon border for the past eight months. Last week, the Lebanese group fired hundreds of rockets and drones at Israeli military installations after one of its commanders was killed.

After meeting with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a close ally of Hezbollah, Hochstein called for “urgent” de-escalation.

“We have seen an increase over the last few weeks. And what President Biden wants to do is avoid further escalation of a larger war,” Hochstein told reporters.

The US ambassador went to Beirut after the meeting in Israel on Monday. Israel's Haaretz reported that he warned Israeli officials that a “widespread Iranian offensive” could result if the Israel-Hezbollah conflict continued.

In Beirut, Hochstein said it was “in everyone's interest” to resolve the conflict quickly and diplomatically. “It's both achievable and urgent.”

'Diplomatic Framework'

Hochstein's visit comes after Hezbollah unilaterally suspended its offensive for two days during the Eid-ul-Adha Muslim holiday, which began on Sunday. But that hiatus ended on Tuesday after Hezbollah said it had targeted an Israeli tank with a suicide drone.

The Lebanese group released a nine-minute video saying their surveillance drone was brought back from Israel. The video shows and identifies key infrastructure including military facilities in the north of the country as well as a power plant in Haifa – Israel's third largest city.

Hezbollah has said it will not stop its attacks in northern Israel unless there is a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier this month that “one way or another, we will restore security in the north,” and his hardline nationalist coalition partners called for an aggressive military response.

The Israeli military said on Monday it had killed a “central operative” of Hezbollah's rocket division in a drone strike.

The US State Department said late Monday that it was moving forward with a proposal to avoid a large-scale conflict.

“There is a diplomatic framework that we believe is within reach that will resolve this dispute without all-out war,” a spokesman said.

In Beirut, Hochstein referred to the disputed Israel-Lebanon border, calling for the adoption of a Gaza cease-fire resolution by Biden's administration in hopes of bringing peace quickly across the “blue line.”

“A ceasefire in Gaza and, or, an alternative diplomatic solution could end the conflict across the blue line” and allow displaced civilians to return to southern Lebanon and northern Israel, he said.

Hezbollah recently said it had carried out more than 2,100 military operations against Israel since October 8. The Lebanese group launched its attacks in what it says is an effort to support the Palestinians as war breaks out in Gaza.

Israel-Lebanon border violence has left at least 473 people dead on the Lebanese side, mostly fighters but also 92 civilians, according to an AFP tally.

Israeli authorities say at least 15 soldiers and 11 civilians were killed in the northern part of the country.