US envoy visits Beirut as Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire talks gain momentum

CNN-

US envoy Amos Hochstein is expected in Beirut on Tuesday, according to two official Lebanese sources, in what is seen as a sign of progress in ceasefire negotiations in the deadly cross-border conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The news comes after Beirut responded positively to a US-backed proposal to end the war between Israel and Hezbollah, according to Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Makati. Speaking to Al Araby TV news channel on Monday, Makati said the Lebanese government had requested clarification on some unclear points in the ceasefire proposal, but that much of the draft agreement had been resolved.

Some points could be clarified through face-to-face discussions with Hochstein, he added.

US Ambassador to Lebanon Lisa Johnson relayed the proposal to the Lebanese government on Thursday evening through Nabih Berri, speaker of Parliament, a Lebanese official told CNN earlier.

According to the official, Hezbollah reviewed the proposal and submitted its response to Lebanese authorities on Sunday evening. The source described the response as largely positive.

A source familiar with the matter told CNN that negotiations on a diplomatic resolution were continuing and noted that Hochstein's trip did not necessarily mean a deal was imminent.

The US-backed proposal aims to achieve a cessation of hostilities for 60 days and is presented as the basis for a lasting ceasefire, according to the Lebanese official, adding that the conditions fall within the parameters of UN Resolution 1701 which ended the conflict between Lebanon and Israel. war of 2006. 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 demands that Israeli ground forces, operating in southern Lebanon since late September, withdraw from the country and demands stricter implementation of Resolution 1701, according to the Lebanese official.

Israel and Lebanon responded to the proposal, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Monday.

We shared proposals, both with the Lebanese government and with the Israeli government. Both parties have responded to the proposals we have put forward, he said at a press briefing.

Miller would not say whether the United States is optimistic about the chances of reaching an agreement, but noted that when a resolution is reached in the interests of all parties involved, we should be able to reach to an agreement, and that's what happens. try to do.

We will continue to stick to this process because we believe a diplomatic resolution is essential to stop the fighting, to protect civilians and to allow civilians in Israel and Lebanon to return home, Miller said. .

An Israeli source close to the negotiations, however, cast doubt on the likelihood of an imminent agreement, noting that while progress has been made, Hezbollah's refusal to accept Israel's request for the right to strike Hezbollah targets in the event of a violation of the ceasefire could jeopardize the process. . Without this clause, the source added, it is unclear whether Netanyahu could obtain cabinet approval for the deal.

The Israeli source added that Hochstein has not yet confirmed when he will arrive in the region.

Bezalel Smotrich, Israel's far-right Finance Minister, said on Monday that full operational freedom for the Israeli army in southern Lebanon was a non-negotiable condition.

At the end of the war, we will enjoy operational freedom in Gaza, and therefore we will also have operational freedom in Lebanon. We will not accept any arrangement that is not worth the paper it is written on, he said. We are changing the security paradigm and will not return unanswered to decades of containment concepts and threats. This won't happen again.

In his interview with Al Araby TV, Mikati dismissed reports of demands to grant the Israeli army operational freedom in southern Lebanon as speculation, adding that he had not seen a such clause in the proposal.

Berri, who heads the Hezbollah-allied Amal party and is an interlocutor in the talks, told the Saudi newspaper Asharq Al Awsat on Friday that the proposal he received from the United States does not mention Israeli military operational freedom in Lebanon, adding that the United States knows that such a requirement would be unacceptable.

The Lebanese official who spoke to CNN also said the proposal did not refer to Israel's right to continue hitting Lebanon after a truce.

The source also said that Hezbollah had agreed to separate its conflict with Israel from Israel's war in Gaza. Before Israel's all-out offensive in late September, the militant group insisted it would only stop its near-daily attacks on Israel's northernmost territories once a ceasefire was achieved. in Gaza.

According to several senior Lebanese officials, Hezbollah had initially agreed to dissociate the two conflicts the night before its leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike in late September.

Mikati said his government was in contact with US President-elect Donald Trump's team.

Another Lebanese source close to the ceasefire talks told CNN earlier that President-elect Trump had endorsed Hochstein's path of ceasefire negotiations, increasing the chances of success.

Meanwhile, a senior US official told CNN that reports that Israel would try to delay a deal had no basis. The Israelis confirmed to us that they were ready to do so, the source said.

A deal with Hezbollah would send a signal to Hamas that Israel and its partners will do everything possible to reach an agreement that would return hostages held in Gaza, the U.S. official said.

If we reach an agreement with Lebanon, we will fall like a ton of bricks on Hamas to try to secure a hostage deal, the official said, adding that Israel must turn this military success into a strategic success .

The US official said the region was at an impasse, with Hamas refusing to reach a ceasefire deal that would return the Israeli hostages, and Hezbollah vowing to continue fighting until the Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza ends.

Even if the United States is not privy to all of Israel's military plans, the official said, degrading Hezbollah helps reach an agreement.

To reach an agreement in Lebanon, Hezbollah must be put under pressure, the US official said, adding that Hezbollah cannot rebuild its massive military infrastructure across the border with Israel.

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