Washington, DC – A week before the Israeli government unleashed a barrage of attacks on Lebanon — killing nearly 500 people in a single day — the United States sent a diplomat to Israel with the stated goal of promoting de-escalation.Amos Hochstein, US President Joe Biden’s envoy, landed in the region on August 16 with the aim of preventing daily exchanges of fire at the Israel-Lebanon border between Lebanese group Hezbollah and Israeli forces from leading to all-out war.
But a day after Hochstein’s arrival, booby-trapped communication devices linked to Hezbollah were detonated across Lebanon, killing and injuring thousands in an attack widely believed to have been carried out by Israel. Further assaults would follow.
Khaled Elgindy, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute think tank, said the timing of Hochstein’s visit and the ensuing Israeli attacks on Lebanon highlight a pattern of Israeli leaders defying what the Biden administration says it wants its top ally to do.
“It’s exactly what’s happened for the last 12 months: They [the Israelis] know every single warning from the administration has been ignored — explicitly and emphatically, repeatedly — and there’s never been a consequence,” he told Al Jazeera.
On Friday, Israel bombed a building in Beirut’s southern suburbs, killing a senior Hezbollah commander, as well as dozens of other people, including several children. Firing across the Israel-Lebanon border then reached new heights.
And on Mond …
