Mikati: Hochstein to visit Lebanon soon, truce would trigger land border talks

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has said that U.S. special envoy Amos Hochstein will visit Lebanon soon, amid fears of an all-out war between Lebanon and Israel as tensions escalated between the two archfoes in recent weeks.

Hochstein was last in Beirut in January in a diplomatic effort to prevent a bigger conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.

Mikati told Reuters, in comments published Thursday, that he is certain that Hezbollah would cease fire if Israel did the same, and that a truce in Gaza would trigger mediated land border negotiations between Lebanon and Israel.

As Israel and Hamas inch toward a new deal, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said there would be no let-up in Israeli action against Hezbollah even if a Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal were secured, while Hezbollah said it would abide by any Gaza truce.