Two senior US officials are in the Middle East this week, with the joint mission of negotiating an end to the current war between Israel and a number of Iran-backed Islamist militias. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken arrived in Israel on Tuesday. US Special Envoy on Lebanon Amos Hochstein was in Beirut on Monday. Are the two faced with a mission impossible, or is there a chance that their efforts may forge a pathway to bring the year-long conflict to an end?
At the start of this week, Israeli aircraft carried out a series of attacks on Hezbollah targets deep inside Lebanon. These included the headquarters of the organisation’s aerial division. Hezbollah responded with rocket fire on central and northern Tel Aviv. Even as the daily exchanges of fire continue, Israeli ground forces are pressing on with their methodical work, rooting out and destroying Hezbollah infrastructure on the Lebanese side of the border.
Israel currently feels it has the advantage and is pushing ahead with degrading its enemies’ capacities
Hochstein, speaking after meetings with Lebanese parliamentary speaker and Amal movement leader Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Najib Mikati, said that only a new mechanism to ensure that UN resolution 1701 was implemented ‘fairly, accurately and transparently’ could ensure an end to the war. His
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