US envoy Hochstein calls Lebanese-Israeli border situation 'serious'

US special envoy Amos Hochstein said Tuesday that his country was working to avoid "a greater war" between Israel and the pro-Iranian Hezbollah in south Lebanon, describing the situation as "serious."

"We have seen an escalation over the last few weeks and what [US] President [Joe] Biden wants to do is to avoid a further escalation to a greater war. That is the effort here," Hochstein told reporters after holding talks with Lebanon's House Speaker Nabih Berri, a close ally of Hezbollah.

"This is a very serious situation that we are in," the US official said, adding that there is still a pathway for diplomatic solutions if both sides can agree.

The US official arrived earlier Tuesday in the Lebanese capital and is scheduled to hold talks with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib.

According to a Lebanese government source, Hochstein, who visited Israel on Monday, was sent to the region on "an urgent unexpected visit" to contain the deteriorating situation between Israel and Hezbollah and prevent an all-out war from breaking out in the area.

Israeli media reported on Tuesday that Benny Gantz, leader of the National Unity political alliance, told the US envoy on Monday that “time is running out” to reach any sort of diplomatic deal to reinstate calm along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon.

Gantz stressed to Hochstein that he is committed to “removing the threat Hezbollah poses to the citizens of northern Israel, regardless of developments on the war in Gaza,” his office said.

Last week, two Lebanon-based United Nations officials said they were "deeply concerned" about the recent escalation on the Israel-Lebanon border.

"The danger of miscalculation leading to a sudden and wider conflict is very real," said UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, and head of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), Aroldo Lazaro in joint statement.

Hochstein has been trying to find a diplomatic solution between Israel and Hezbollah for months.

Since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip in October 2023, there have been daily clashes between the Israeli army, Hezbollah and allied groups in the border area between Israel and Lebanon.

Israel wants to use military and diplomatic pressure to ensure that Hezbollah retreats behind the Litani River, 30 kilometres from the border - as stipulated in an important UN resolution on the 2006 conflict.

Hochstein, referring to Biden's May 31 proposal for a Gaza ceasefire, stressed that a ceasefire provides an alternative diplomatic solution which could bring the conflict on the Lebanese-Israel border to an end as well as return displaced people on both sides of the border to their homes.

About 150,000 people have been evacuated or have left the combat zone due to violence which started on the Lebanese-Israeli border on October 8.

According to Israeli information, Hezbollah has an arsenal of at least 150,000 rockets that could reach targets across Israel.

The Shiite militia, which is trained and financed by Iran, is considered significantly more powerful than the Palestinian Islamist terrorist organization Hamas.