Amos Hochstein
U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein reportedly assured Beirut that Israeli forces will fully withdraw from Lebanon by Jan. 26.
U.S. Maj. Gen. Jasper Jeffers praised the Lebanese Armed Forces, particularly commending the engineer corps for safely handling unexploded ordnance.
“These withdrawals will continue until all Israeli forces are out of Lebanon completely,” Amos Hochstein said.
The Biden envoy is to chair a meeting of the international monitoring mechanism.
The visit comes amid reports that Israel is planning to delay its withdrawal from Lebanon, and days before the Lebanese Parliament is to elect a new president.
Restraint “from all sides” is necessary for the truce to hold, U.S. sources told Israeli media.
There was no realistic agreement that included an Israeli-controlled buffer zone in Southern Lebanon, according to presidential envoy Amos Hochstein.
“I don’t think there’s a single Jewish person that doesn’t have within one or two degrees of separation knowledge of a hostage or a family relative of a hostage,” the U.S. presidential envoy said.
Iran’s supreme leader would have to give his stamp of approval before Hezbollah lays down arms.
The U.S. envoy will meet with Netanyahu as efforts to advance a truce with the Hezbollah terrorist group continue.
Hezbollah’s dilemma: continue insisting on conditions for an agreement full of loopholes, or back down while senior officials who could rehabilitate the organization remain.
Amos Hochstein’s visit comes following Lebanon’s written response to the latest U.S. proposal, which according to a spokesman for Lebanon’s Hezbollah-affiliated Parliament speaker included “comments” presented “in a positive atmosphere.”
