The Latest | A top US diplomat visits Beirut after attacks across Israel-Lebanon border intensify

Amos Hochstein, senior advisor to United States President Joe Biden, met with officials in Beirut on Tuesday in an effort to find a diplomatic solution to head off a larger war.

Cross-border attacks by Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah have been taking place almost daily since the war in Gaza began in October and escalated dramatically a week ago, after Israel killed a high-ranking Hezbollah commander in a strike on south Lebanon.

Meanwhile, Israel’s Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday about a law granting far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir sweeping power over the police. Ben-Gvir was convicted eight times for offenses that include racism and supporting a Jewish terrorist organization. As national security minister, he has encouraged police to take a tough line against anti-government protesters and has actively supported officers accused of using excessive force against Palestinians.

Israeli officials say Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dissolved his influential war Cabinet that was tasked with steering the war in Gaza a week after Benny Gantz, a popular opposition lawmaker and former military chief, quit Netanyahu's three-person governing coalition in frustration over how the war was being handled.

Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza has killed more than 37,100 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count. The war has largely cut off the flow of food, medicine and other supplies to Palestinians who are facing widespread hunger.

Israel launched the war after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, in which militants stormed into southern Israel, killed some 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and abducted about 250.

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