BEIRUT: US envoy Amos Hochstein will hold talks with Lebanese officials in Beirut on Monday (Oct 21) on conditions for a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, while Israel struck branches across Lebanon of what it describes as Hezbollah’s shadow bank.
Diplomacy has failed to cool down Israel’s conflicts with its two most dangerous and heavily armed regional militia foes – Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Palestinian Gaza Strip – which are grinding into a second year.
Washington is hoping for a new push for peace in the Middle East following Israel’s killing last week of Yahya Sinwar, leader of Hamas and architect of the attacks on Israeli towns last year that precipitated Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip.
US officials are seeking to broker a truce in Lebanon, where Israel launched a ground campaign over the past month and has killed most of the senior leadership of Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militia which says it is fighting Israel on behalf of the Palestinians.
Overnight, Israel attacked sites in Beirut, southern Lebanon and the Bekaa valley, targeting the branches of an alternative banking system that Israel says is run by Hezbollah to finance its operations. Hundreds of families fled homes near the targeted locations ahead of the strikes, though no casualties were immediately reported.
Reuters saw plumes of black smoke billowing in the air after at least 10 blasts in Beirut suburbs. Panicked crowds clogged streets and caused traffic jams in some parts of the city as they tried to get to neighbourhoods thought to be safer.
“Strike, strike, strike with planes and drones, and we don’t know who they are targeting and who will die each day,” said Micheline Jabbour, who works in a Beirut pastry shop.
The Israeli military said before its overnight attacks that it was targeting the Al-Qard Al-Hassan Association, an alternative to the Lebanese banking system which the US has said is used by Iran-backed Hezbollah to manage its finances.
The association has more than 30 branches across Lebanon including 15 in densely populated parts of central Beirut and its suburbs.
There was no immediate statement from the organisation, Hezbollah or the Lebanese government.
US envoy Hochstein is set to meet Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati and speaker of parliament Nabih Berri on Monday.
Berri told the Al-Arabiya broadcaster over the weekend that Hochstein’s visit was “the last chance before the US elections” to reach a truce. But Berri said Hezbollah would reject any changes to the agreement which ended the last major war between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006.
