US President Joe Biden has dispatched White House Middle East adviser Amos Hochstein to Lebanon in an effort to defuse a war of rhetoric and threats that some believe could provoke a shooting war.
The trip’s timing is key to a tangential issue: the United Nations vote on whether to extend the mandate of the UNIFIL peacekeeping force.
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Iran-backed Hizbullah, labeled a terrorist group by the United States and others, would be happy to end UNIFIL’s presence, while the Israelis would like it to remain in place, albeit with greater and more far-reaching powers to interdict its belligerent behaviors.
Jerusalem wants certain loopholes closed while Lebanon, speaking for Hizbullah, seeks to open up greater wiggle room in its operational abilities. One such goal is to require joint Lebanese-UNIFIL patrols, said to be a sure-fire end to patrols at all.
Hochstein will also check up on the state of gas-drilling operations, which he helped to negotiate.