Live: US says Israel-Hezbollah truce is within ‘grasp’ as Gaza food crisis worsens after looting

US envoy says Israel-Hezbollah truce is ‘within our grasp’ as Gaza food crisis worsens after looting

A United States envoy said an agreement to end the Israel-Hezbollah war is “within our grasp” after talks in Lebanon on Tuesday. 

However, there was no such optimism in the Gaza Strip, where the looting of nearly 100 aid trucks by armed men worsened an already severe food crisis.

Amos Hochstein, the Biden administration’s pointman on Israel and Lebanon, arrived as Hezbollah’s allies in the Lebanese government said the militant group had responded positively to the proposal, which would entail both its fighters and Israeli ground forces withdrawing from a UN buffer zone in southern Lebanon.

The buffer zone would be policed by thousands of additional UN peacekeepers and Lebanese troops. Israel has called for a stronger enforcement mechanism, potentially including the ability to conduct military operations against any Hezbollah threats, something Lebanon is likely to oppose.

• Conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East are eating into US stockpiles of air defenses, the top US admiral overseeing American forces in the Asia-Pacific region said.
• US special envoy Amos Hochstein said in Beirut Tuesday that an end to the Israel-Hezbollah war was “now within our grasp” as he met officials to discuss a truce plan largely endorsed by Lebanon.
• Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that Israel had not given up on locating the remaining hostages in Gaza, and is offering a $5 million reward for each Gaza hostage freed.