Lebanon ceasefire talks intensify as Hezbollah studies new US-Israeli proposal

CNN-

Hezbollah is considering a proposed US-Israeli ceasefire, sources told CNN, as diplomatic efforts to end the conflict between Israel and the Lebanese militant group intensify.

U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Lisa Johnson relayed the proposal to the Lebanese government Thursday evening, a Lebanese official close to the discussions told CNN.

Authorities are optimistic that Hezbollah will accept the terms of the deal and hope to submit a formal response to the latest proposal next Monday, the official said.

Diplomatic efforts are now on fire, the source said.

On Saturday evening, another Lebanese source told CNN that in-depth discussions were taking place in Beirut between politicians about the US initiative.

Israel launched a major offensive in Lebanon in mid-September after months of border attacks that began when Hezbollah attacked Israel in solidarity with Hamas and the Palestinians in Gaza. Returning 60,000 civilians to their homes in northern Israel has become a political imperative for the country's leaders.

The offensive dealt devastating blows to Hezbollah's leadership and its vast arsenal and, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry, killed hundreds of civilians and displaced more than a million people.

Even as ceasefire talks are underway, Israeli strikes have intensified this week, stepping up its bombing and ground operations. Most of the targets have been Shiite-majority areas where Hezbollah has influence, but Israel has also struck buildings housing displaced families well outside the militant groups' areas of dominance.

Israeli strikes across Lebanon killed at least 43 people on Thursday, including eight civil defense officers, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry and Civil Defense Directorate.

The General Directorate of Civil Defense told the X that an Israeli strike had destroyed its headquarters in the village of Douris, near Baalbek. The civil protection building was hit while a number of workers were inside, ready to receive rescue calls and immediate intervention to help citizens, management said in a statement.

The latest proposal, which Ambassador Johnson presented to the Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament, Nabih Berri, close to Hezbollah, is the first submitted by the United States and Israel since the negotiation of a temporary ceasefire at the end of September. These efforts were thwarted when Israel killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in a major bombing in Beirut's southern suburbs.

Another Lebanese official familiar with ceasefire discussions told CNN that US President-elect Donald Trump had approved the ongoing negotiations, led by the Biden administration's special envoy to Lebanon, Amos Hochstein.

U.S. officials continued to seek a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon and people close to Donald Trump signaled to administration officials that he would not seek to end ongoing efforts, American and Israeli sources said.

Questions remain about when the deal will be finalized: the current U.S. official says it is close to being done, but some Israeli officials have told Trump and those close to him that they have the intends to deliver the ceasefire to the new Trump team as a quick gift. . Other Israeli officials, however, have signaled to the Biden administration that they want to reach a deal as soon as possible.

CNN has reached out to the Trump campaign for comment.

The Logan Act prevents Trump, before he is officially president, from engaging in American politics, and in particular from negotiating with foreign governments in conflict with the United States. Members of the Trump transition team are familiar with this law.

Some current U.S. officials, however, point out that Trump probably does not want to appear to be pressuring Israel so soon after taking office, and that there is therefore mutual incentive to resolve the situation on Israel's northern border. Israel as soon as possible. Two people involved in the discussions said the main sticking point remained how to enforce Hezbollah's withdrawal from southern Lebanon and whether the Lebanese armed forces would be willing to take a more active role there.

The US-Israeli proposal aims to achieve a cessation of hostilities for 60 days and is presented as the basis for a lasting ceasefire, according to the top Lebanese official, adding that the conditions fall within the parameters of the UN Resolution 1701 which ended the Lebanese War. 2006 Israel War. The resolution states that the only armed groups in the area south of the Litani River in Lebanon should be the Lebanese army and UN peacekeeping forces.

The proposal also involves Israeli ground forces, operating in southern Lebanon since late September, withdrawing behind the internationally recognized border between the two countries.

These points mainly focus on the implementation mechanism and the role of the Lebanese Armed Forces in implementing Law 1701 south of the Litani River, the official said, adding that it also addresses smuggling routes passing by the country's international borders.

The US Embassy in Beirut declined CNN's request for comment on the ceasefire negotiations.

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