Amos Hochstein, a senior adviser to US President Joe Biden, met with officials in Beirut on Tuesday in an effort to find a diplomatic solution to avoid a major war.
Cross-border attacks by Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah have taken place almost daily since the war in Gaza began in October and escalated dramatically a week ago, after Israel killed top Hezbollah commander in an attack in southern Lebanon.
Meanwhile, Israel’s Supreme Court on Tuesday heard arguments over a law giving far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir sweeping powers over the police. Ben-Gvir was convicted eight times for crimes including racism and supporting a Jewish terrorist organization. As Minister of National Security, he has encouraged police to take a hard line against anti-government protesters and has actively supported officers accused of using excessive force against Palestinians.
Israeli officials say Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dissolved his influential war cabinet tasked with running the war in Gaza a week after Benny Gantz, a popular opposition lawmaker and former military chief, resign from Netanyahu’s three-person governing coalition Frustrated by how the war was being handled.
Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza has killed more than 37,100 people, according to the Gaza Office. Ministry of Health, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count. The war has largely cut off the flow of food, medicine and other supplies to the Palestinians who facing widespread hunger.
Israel launched the war after Hamas attack on October 7in which militants swept into southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping about 250.
At the moment:
—Netanyahu dissolves influential war cabinet after a key partner left the government.
– Iran presidential candidates debate economic policies before the June 28 vote.
– TO Pro-Palestinian camp cleared from Cal State LA, days after taking possession of the building.
— US Vice President Harris meets with Israeli lawyer who was taken hostage and described being sexually assaulted in Gaza.
—The war in Gaza has wiped out entire Palestinian families. AP documents 60 people who lost dozens or more.
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Gaza at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
Here’s the latest:
TEL AVIV, Israel – The Israeli military said Hezbollah fired four projectiles into Israel on Tuesday afternoon, breaking three days of relative calm.
The cross-border fire occurred as Amos Hochstein, a senior adviser to US President Joe Biden, met with officials in Beirut on Tuesday in an effort to find a diplomatic solution to avoid a larger war between Israel and Hezbollah.
The Israeli military said all launches were intercepted, although shrapnel from an explosive drone sparked a forest fire near the border, according to Israel Fire and Rescue Services.
Also on Tuesday, Lebanese state media reported an Israeli drone attack on a car on the highway north of the coastal city of Tyre. It was not immediately clear who was in the car or how many people were killed or injured.
The pause came after heavy bombing last week, when Hezbollah launched hundreds of drones and rockets, including more than 200 in a single dayand, in return, the Israeli army attacked Hezbollah targets.
The relative calm continued even after the Israeli military said it killed a key operative in Hezbollah’s rocket and missile department, Mohammed Ayoub, in a drone strike Monday morning near the village of Chehabiyeh.
The pause could have been due to the Muslim holiday of Eid al Adha, which for some begins on Sunday and ends on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Hezbollah began attacking Israel almost immediately after war broke out between Israel and Hamas on October 7, and with almost daily exchanges of fire, although most attacks are limited to an area within a few, mostly confined to the area around the border.
In recent weeks, exchanges have intensified and fires have broken out in both Israel and Lebanon. Israeli strikes have killed more than 400 people in Lebanon, most of them Hezbollah fighters, but at least 70 of the dead were civilians. In northern Israel, 16 soldiers and 11 civilians have died.
BEIRUT – A senior adviser to US President Joe Biden described the ongoing conflict between the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and Israeli forces on the Lebanon-Israel border as a “very serious situation,” saying Tuesday during a visit to Beirut that efforts to find a solution It is urgent to find a diplomatic solution to avoid a major war.
Amos Hochstein met with officials in Lebanon after visiting Israel the previous day.
“We have seen an escalation in recent weeks,” Hochstein told reporters in Beirut after meeting with the speaker of the Lebanese parliament, Nabih Berri, who frequently acts as a conduit between Washington and Hezbollah. “What President Biden wants to do is avoid further escalation into a major war.”
Hochstein also called on the Palestinian militant group Hamas to accept a Washington-backed ceasefire and hostage exchange proposal to end the war in Gaza, which he said could also end the conflict in Lebanon.
Cross-border attacks by Israel and Hezbollah have taken place almost daily since the war in Gaza began in October. The attacks escalated dramatically a week ago, after Israel killed top Hezbollah commander in an attack in southern Lebanon. In response, Hezbollah intensified its own attacks against northern Israel. Some Israeli leaders have threatened all-out war to silence Hezbollah’s rocket fire.
The fighting has displaced tens of thousands of people on each side of the border. Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon have killed more than 400 people since October, most of them militants from Hezbollah and allied groups, but the dead also include more than 80 civilians and non-combatants. On the Israeli side, 16 soldiers and 11 civilians have been killed.
TEL AVIV, Israel – Israel’s Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday on a law that gives a far-right government minister sweeping powers over the police.
The law would allow National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to intervene in police investigations. Critics say the law is part of Ben-Gvir’s attempt to consolidate more aspects of the police under his authority. They say the law would give them too much power over who and how police investigate.
Previously, the court issued an interim order prohibiting Ben-Gvir from intervening in police investigations.
A long time admirer of the last racist rabbi Meir KahaneBen-Gvir was convicted eight times for crimes including racism and supporting a Jewish terrorist organization. He was once on the sidelines of Israeli politics, but now oversees the police and has other key government duties. As Minister of National Security, he has encouraged police to take a hard line against anti-government protesters and has actively supported officers accused of using excessive force against Palestinians.
On Monday, police faced criticism for their harsh response to protesters in Jerusalem who called for early elections. Several protesters were injured, including a volunteer doctor who was hit in the face with a water cannon and may lose her vision, Israeli media reported. Police said four officers were injured in the protest.
This story originally appeared on ABCNews.go.com read the full story
