Hoekstein: To End the Presidential Vacuum in Lebanon

The U.S. special envoy, Amos Hoekstein, stated that "we look forward to ending the war in Gaza and in southern Lebanon and we hope to end the presidential vacuum in Lebanon." He said, "Hezbollah is the one who started the war on Israel from Lebanon," linking the situation to what is happening in Gaza, and confirmed that fighting in Lebanon will not stop unless it stops in the Strip. Hoekstein asserted that "it is time to conclude the first phase of the ceasefire and release some hostages, before we move to the second phase, which is to end the war completely." After U.S. President Joe Biden's decision to delay the deportation of Lebanese from the United States, the U.S. envoy said, "We hope that we will not need more than 18 months of extension for Lebanese in America and we are working on revitalizing the Lebanese economy in various ways." Regarding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to the United States, Hoekstein saw it as "successful, discussing the ceasefire process and protecting civilians and pressuring Hamas to negotiate and end the conflict."