Following the assassination of senior Hamas figure Saleh al-Arouri in Lebanon on Thursday, US President Amos Hochstein's special envoy to the Middle East arrived in Israel.
Watch: The moment of al-Arouri's assassination in Beirut
As part of his visit, Hochstein met with Prime Minister Netanyahu and Ministers Benny Gantz and Yoav Galant. On the agenda will be the American attempt to prevent escalation on the northern border and the continuation of contacts to exhaust the political attempt to withdraw Hezbollah forces to the Litani as an alternative to war.
The US is trying to calm the situation
Hochstein's arrival with such urgency a few days after the assassination in Lebanon emphasizes that the United States is trying to prevent at this stage as well the possible escalation in Hezbollah's responses to the assassination, and then mainly in the possible Israeli response to the escalation.
Galant at a meeting with Amos Hochstein, US envoy to the Middle East, photo: Ariel Hermony, Ministry of Defense
The meeting between Hochstein and Galant, which took place in the Defense Minister's office in the Kirya, was attended by IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, Israeli Ambassador to the United States Mike Herzog, Strategic Chief of Staff Brigadier General Benny Gal and other senior defense officials.
"The window for a political solution is short," Galento told the U.S. envoy. "We are committed to returning the residents of the north to their homes after the change in the security situation at the border."
Galant and IDF representatives briefed Senior Advisor Hochstein about the security conditions that would allow the return of the residents of the north. Minister Galant emphasized that the State of Israel is committed to changing the security situation on the border. The defense minister also stressed that Israel would prefer to resolve the military confrontation with Hezbollah through political means, but the chances of such a feasibility decreasing with the passage of time.
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