Prime Biden administration official visits Beirut hours after the Israeli army strikes the centre of the Lebanese capital.
A senior United States envoy is visiting Lebanon for talks on a draft ceasefire proposal between Israel and Hezbollah as either side proceed to commerce fireplace.
Amos Hochstein landed in Beirut on Tuesday after Hezbollah and the Lebanese authorities reacted to the textual content “in a optimistic manner,” however have “some feedback on the content material”, Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr reported from the Lebanese capital.
The administration of US President Joe Biden is making a last-ditch try for a truce as combating between Hezbollah and the Israeli army has escalated.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday pledged to proceed to “systematically function” in opposition to Hezbollah even when a ceasefire deal is reached.
“This can be a nonstarter for Lebanon. They see this as a violation of the nation’s sovereignty,” Khodr mentioned.
An aide to the Lebanese parliament’s speaker, Nabih Berri, who has been endorsed by the Iran-aligned group to barter – advised the Reuters information company on Monday that each the Lebanese authorities and Hezbollah have agreed to the US proposal that was submitted in writing final week.
He declined to stipulate the feedback made by Lebanon on the draft however mentioned they had been introduced according to United Nations Safety Council Decision 1701, which was adopted following the final Israel-Hezbollah conflict in 2006.
The decision calls on Hezbollah to tug again north of the Litani River – about 30km (18.6 miles) from the demarcation line between Lebanon and Israel, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanese soil and the deployment of the Lebanese military within the south of the nation alongside United Nations peacekeepers.
In line with Khodr: “Lebanon’s message is – we’re dedicated to 1701, nothing extra.”
Throughout a go to to Beirut in October, Hochstein mentioned commitments to the UN decision weren’t sufficient because it didn’t be carried out since its adoption 18 years in the past. He known as as an alternative for a brand new enforcement mechanism to be arrange.
“Statements we hear from Lebanese officers is that there’s cautious optimism, however the actuality is that there are main sticking factors, particularly regarding a Western-led committee that the US needs to create to supervise the implementation of UN Decision 1701 – this isn’t accepted by Lebanon,” Khodr mentioned.
On Tuesday, emergency employees had been nonetheless recovering our bodies from the rubble after the Israeli army’s newest assault on central Beirut that killed not less than 5 individuals. Hezbollah, in the meantime, launched a missile at Tel Aviv, wounding seven individuals.
“These assaults – in addition to Israel’s ongoing floor offensive in southern Lebanon and the continued rocket fireplace from Hezbollah – are including to scepticism of the prospects of an actual ceasefire,” mentioned Al Jazeera’s Ali Hashem, reporting from Beirut.
At the very least 3,516 individuals have been killed and 14,929 wounded in Israeli assaults in Lebanon for the reason that Gaza conflict started final October.
Israel’s conflict in Gaza has killed not less than 43,922 Palestinians and wounded 103,898 since October 7, 2023.
