US special envoy Amos Hochstein to arrive in Israel today

Tel Aviv, Jan 4 : Amos Hochstein, US President Joe Bidens special energy envoy, is scheduled to arrive here on Thursday and hold talks with top leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant .

Hochsteins visit comes as the US is intensifying efforts to defuse thetensions between Israel and Hezbollah in the wake of the killing of Hamass deputy politburo chief Saleh Al-Arouri on Tuesday in Lebanon.

Al-Arouri and six of his aides were killed in an alleged Israeli strike that targeted a Hamas officein the southern suburb of Beirut.

Even as Israel has not officially taken responsibility for the killing, both Hamas and Hezbollah have blamed the Jewish nation for carrying out the attack.

The US has in recent days, sent messages to its allies and other contacts in the Middle East to prevent an escalation of the cross-border violence between the Israel Defense Forces and Hezbollah on the Jewish nations northern border.

The US officials have publicly said that the country has taken “deterrent steps and diplomatic steps” to deliver the message.

aal/ksk