In Beirut, US envoy says 'no more time to waste' on Gaza ceasefire

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Visiting US envoy Amos Hochstein warned Wednesday the clock was ticking for a Gaza ceasefire that could also help end 10 months of cross-border exchanges between Lebanon's Hizbollah and Israel.

His Lebanon trip comes a day before ceasefire negotiations between Hamas and Israel are set to resume, with top diplomats scrambling to avert all-out war after Iran and Hizbollah vowed revenge for recent high-profile killings.

Hochstein told a Beirut news conference that he and parliament speaker Nabih Berri, a Hizbollah ally, discussed "the framework agreement that's on the table for a Gaza ceasefire, and he and I agreed there is no more time to waste and there's no more valid excuses from any party for any further delay".

"The deal would also help enable a diplomatic resolution here in Lebanon and that would prevent an outbreak of a wider war," Hochstein said.

"We have to take advantage of this window for diplomatic action and diplomatic solutions. That time is now."

Late last month, an Israeli strike killed top Hizbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut's southern suburbs, a stronghold of the group, just hours before Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Tehran in an attack blamed on Israel.

"The more time goes by of escalated tensions... the more the odds and the chances go up for accidents, for mistakes, for inadvertent targets to be hit that could easily cause escalation that gets out of control," Hochstein warned.  

Diplomatic resolution 'achievable' 

"Here in Lebanon we believe we can get to [the] end of the conflict now, today. We recognise that there are those who want to tie it to other conflicts. That is not our position," Hochstein said. 

"We continue to believe that a diplomatic resolution is achievable because we continue to believe that no one truly wants a full-scale war between Lebanon and Israel," Hochstein said.

Hizbollah has repeatedly said it would only end hostilities once a Gaza ceasefire deal has been reached. 

The US envoy also met Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who warned in a statement that "Israeli intransigence is threatening efforts to stop the war".

Last week, Hizbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said his group and Iran were "obliged to respond" to Israel "whatever the consequences" after the killings of Shukr and Haniyeh.

On Tuesday, Lebanon's pro-Hizbollah newspaper Al-Akhbar published a report headlined "Don't welcome the Israeli mediator", accusing Hochstein of providing assurances before Shukr's killing that Israel would not strike Beirut's southern suburbs.

The Hamas ally has traded near daily fire with the Israeli army since the Palestinian. The violence has killed some 568 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally.

On the Israeli side, including in the annexed Golan Heights, 22 soldiers and 26 civilians have been killed, according to army figures.