Shafaq News/ U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein will arrive in Beirut shortly and will meet with Speaker Nabih Berri, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and other officials.

He is scheduled to meet with Berri at 1:45 pm and with Mikati at 3:00 pm.

A highly informed source had told the Nidaa al-Watan newspaper that former General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim’s “presence in Qatar to take part in the ongoing negotiations over the prisoner swap file between Hamas and Israel is direct intervention by Hezbollah in this file.”

Hebzollah wants to “guarantee that Hamas’ leadership in exile will benefit from this essential file to achieve the highest possible gains,” the source added.

“Ibrahim, who is used to exchanging messages between Hezbollah and the Americans, especially over the maritime and land border files, is aided in his current mission by the fact that his friend Amos Hochstein is involved in the negotiations over the supposed swap deal,” the source went on to say.