Biden obsessed with Lebanon Israel border calm

President Joe Biden stressed the importance of restoring calm at the Lebanon Israel border on March 28, AFP reported.

Hezbollah and Israeli forces have been clashing on a near daily basis since October in what has been the deadliest period of fighting since 2006. 

Clashes have killed nearly 400 people, most of whom were Lebanese militants, and have displaced 100,000 people living near the border. 

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told the press, “Restoring calm along that border remains a top priority for President Biden and for the administration and it has to be of utmost importance, we believe, as well for both Lebanon and Israel.” 

The American President has also been pushing for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza as the holy month of Ramadan draws to a close early next month. 

Following a recent cancellation of a planned meeting in Washington by Netanyahu, which the Israeli premier angrily scrapped due to the Americans abstaining on a ceasefire vote in the UN Security Council thus allowing the motion to pass, Mr Biden stressed the necessity of meeting with Israeli officials to discuss “ways to defeat Hamas” without impacting civilian life in Gaza as well as advising against a ground assault of the Gazan city of Rafah which is now made up of refugees mostly given incessant Israeli bombardments in the Strip. 

READ: Israel strikes Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon

Western officials have been sounding the alarm bells at the Gaza crisis in particular but have also turned an eye to the chaotic situation between Israel and Lebanon. 

In January, The French Ambassador for the Mediterranean, Karim Amellal met with Lebanese Prime Minister Nijab Mikati in Beirut and noted that, “The risk of an escalation is very important; diplomatic channels should prevail so that Lebanon is preserved from the opening of a new front in the south.”  

In December last year, then French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna called for the implementation of the neglected UN Resolution 1701, which was key in halting the one-month war in 2006, during a visit to the region. 

In early February, British Foreign Secretary, Lord David Cameron jetted off to Lebanon and stressed the importance of “stability” between Lebanon and Israel as well as in the region more generally during talks with the Lebanese Prime Minister. 

AFP 

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