Senior Biden Adviser Amos Hochstein was in Israel Monday for talks with Israeli officials aimed at staving off an expanded war in Lebanon, Axios reported, citing U.S. and Israeli sources.

Hochstein is the Special Presidential Coordinator for Global Infrastructure and Energy Security at the U.S. State Department.

He arrived in Israel amid escalating skirmishes between terrorist organization Hezbollah and Israel on the Lebanon-Israel border. 

U.S. officials tell Axios there is growing concern inside the White House that the tensions between Israel and Hezbollah—which have been escalating for months—could lead to a widening beyond Israel’s current war with Hamas in Gaza, and that the U.S. and other countries could get pulled into it, though Israeli officials deny this. 

Hochstein on Monday was expected to meet with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Israeli Minister for Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) chief of staff Herzi Halevi, and Israeli national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi, officials told Axios.

Hochstein visited Beirut earlier this month. “The United States does not want to see conflict in Gaza escalating and expanding into Lebanon,” Hochstein said during a meeting in the Lebanese capital with Lebanon’s interim Prime Minister and Parliamentary Speaker.

PHOTO: Israel’s 401st Brigade in Northern Gaza, per IDF

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