Lebanon is awaiting proposals to close the deal after the US envoy expressed hope By Reuters
BEIRUT/JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Lebanon is waiting for concrete proposals for a cease-fire, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri was quoted as saying on Wednesday, after a US official said he saw a “shotgun” for an imminent end to hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.
The Israeli army raided a suburb of Beirut controlled by Hezbollah for the second day in a row, after air strikes on the area on Tuesday. Smoke billowed over Beirut.
An Israeli airstrike early Wednesday also killed six people in Aaramoun, in the mountains 15 kilometers south of Beirut, the Lebanese Ministry of Health said.
Israel launched a major air and ground offensive against the Iran-backed Hezbollah group in late September after nearly a year of cross-border clashes alongside the Gaza war.
White House envoy Amos Hochstein told Axios that he thinks there is “a shot” at closing a deal in Lebanon soon. “I hope we get it.”
His comments point to the final agreement of the outgoing administration of US President Joe Biden to end Lebanon as negotiations to end the war in Gaza appear to be lacking, with the Qatari mediator having suspended his role.
The United States and other world powers say the ceasefire must be based on UN Security Council resolution 1701 which ended the war between the parties in 2006. The resolution calls for areas in southern Lebanon near the Israeli border to be weapon-free except for those. of the region of Lebanon.
Israel has long complained that it was not used, pointing to Hezbollah weapons and border fighters. Lebanon accused Israel of violating the resolution, and Israeli warplanes regularly violated its airspace.
Berri, who is authorized to negotiate with Hezbollah, told the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper that Lebanon had not been formally informed of any new proposals for a ceasefire, which several US-led talks failed to achieve last year.
“What is on the table is only Resolution 1701 and its provisions, which must be implemented and followed by both sides, not just the Lebanese side,” Berri, who helped negotiate the deal in 2006, told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper.
Israel seeks the right to intervene to enforce any ceasefire if deemed necessary, noting that the presence of UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon has not prevented Hezbollah from building forces in the area.
ISRAEL’S WARNING
There were no immediate reports of casualties from the Israeli strikes in areas south of Beirut, which mostly evacuated civilians.
The Israeli military previously issued a statement on social media saying it would soon take action against targets in the area, warning residents that they were close to Hezbollah bases.
On Monday, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said there had been “some progress” in talks to end the conflict in Lebanon, although the biggest challenge would be law enforcement.
Israel’s new Defense Minister Israel Katz said Monday that fighting in Lebanon will not end until Israel achieves its goals there, including disarming Hezbollah and returning Israelis who fled to their homes in northern Israel.
The Israeli campaign has dealt heavy blows to Hezbollah, killing its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and other top leaders and attacking the Shi’ite Islamist group’s political and military bases across Lebanon.
Since the outbreak of war last year, Israeli attacks have killed at least 3,287 people in Lebanon, most of them in the past seven weeks, according to Lebanon’s health ministry. Its statistics do not distinguish between civilians and soldiers.
Hezbollah attacks have killed about 100 people and soldiers in northern Israel, the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, and southern Lebanon in the past year, according to Israel.
A Hezbollah attack on Tuesday killed two people in the town of Nahariya in northern Israel. Hezbollah later claimed responsibility for the drone attack which it said targeted a military base east of Nahariya.
