Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib on Tuesday voiced disappointment with US President Joe Biden's remarks at the UN General Assembly about the crisis between Israel and Lebanon, but said he still hoped Washington could intervene to help.
"It was not strong. It is not promising and it would not solve this problem," Bou Habib said of Biden's speech at the United Nations earlier in the day, as quoted by Reuters.
"I (am) still hoping. The United States is the only country that can really make a difference in the Middle East and with regard to Lebanon," Bou Habib added, speaking in New York during a virtual event hosted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Biden in his UN speech sought to calm tensions, saying full-scale war was not in anyone's interest and adding that a diplomatic solution was still possible.
Bou Habib suggested Israel's government was not seriously pursuing a negotiated end to the fighting and instead sought to win on the battlefield.
The US effort to halt an all-out conflict between Hezbollah and Israel has been led by Biden’s special envoy Amos Hochstein, who has visited the region several times in recent months, stressing that a diplomatic solution is key to ending the hostilities.
Hochstein visited Israel earlier this month, where he met with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Gallant stressed to the US envoy that the possibility for an agreement is running out as Hezbollah continues to “tie itself” to Hamas, and refuses to end the conflict.
Therefore, the only way left to ensure the return of Israel’s northern communities to their homes, will be via military action, said Gallant.
Hochstein also met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who made it very clear that it will not be possible to return Israel's residents to their homes without a fundamental change in the security situation in the north.
Hochstein and French diplomats have sought to broker a deal under which Hezbollah would pull back from Israel’s northern border, creating a buffer zone in which the Lebanese army would deploy. Hezbollah has rejected a deal until Israel agrees to a ceasefire with Hamas.