US envoy pushes for ceasefire in Lebanon as food crisis worsens in Gaza

Amos Hochstein, centre, is a senior adviser to US President Joe Biden Picture: Hassan Ammar/AP

A US envoy has returned to Beirut, where Lebanese officials have tentatively welcomed a proposal for an Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire, while in the Gaza Strip there was no such optimism, with the looting of nearly 100 aid trucks by armed men worsening an already severe food crisis.

Amos Hochstein, a senior adviser to US President Joe Biden, arrived as Hezbollah’s allies in the Lebanese government said it had responded positively to the proposal, which would entail both the militants and Israeli ground forces withdrawing from a UN buffer zone in southern Lebanon.