By Wassim Seif El Din
BEIRUT (AA) - US envoy to Lebanon Amos Hochstein said Wednesday that a diplomatic solution to avoid a war between Israel and Hezbollah is still "achievable."
The conflict between "Hezbollah and Israel has gone on for long enough," Hochstein said following his meeting with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri in Beirut.
He said that a diplomatic resolution is "both achievable and urgent."
The US envoy noted that reaching a cease-fire in Gaza will create proper conditions to de-escalate the situation between Lebanon and Israel.
Berri “and I agreed there is no more time to waste and there are no more valid excuses from any party for any further delay," Hochstein said.
Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said early Wednesday there are “wary chances” for diplomatic efforts aimed at preventing an Israeli war on his country.
"There are wary chances for the diplomacy that is mobilizing to prevent war and halt the Israeli aggressions," Mikati said at a cabinet session.
Fears have grown about a full-blown war between Israel and Hezbollah amid a months-long exchange of cross-border fire, especially with Hezbollah threatening military retaliation after the assassination of its top commander Fouad Shukr in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut on July 30.
The escalation comes against the backdrop of an Israeli onslaught on the Gaza Strip, which has killed nearly 40,000 people since last October following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.
*Writing by Ahmed Asmar