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Lebanese FM Kicks off European Tour in Pursuit of Ceasefire

Lebanese caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Lebanese caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Lebanese FM Kicks off European Tour in Pursuit of Ceasefire

Lebanese caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Lebanese caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Lebanese caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib kicked off on Sunday a European tour in pursuit of a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hezbollah and to garner support for the implementation of United Nations Security Council resolution 1701.

He will visit Italy, France, Spain and the Vatican.

Israel’s war on Hezbollah is in its fourth week and efforts have so far failed in reaching a ceasefire.

US envoy Amos Hochstein and Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit are meanwhile expected in Beirut on Monday.

In Italy, Bou Habib will take part in a G7 meeting at the invitation of his Italian counterpart Antonio Tajani.

He will explain Lebanon’s position in calling for a ceasefire and ending the Israeli hostilities through the full implementation of resolution 1701 and bolstering the deployment of the army south of the Litani River.

He will also ask for immediate humanitarian aid for the 1.2 million people who have been displaced by the fighting.

In Paris, he will hold talks with senior UNESCO officials to discuss means to protect Lebanese heritage sites and the education sector.

On Thursday, he will join caretaker Prime Minister and the Lebanese delegation at the Paris conference on Lebanon.

Bou Habib will be in Barcelona on Sunday and Monday to attend the Union for the Mediterranean foreign ministers meeting before returning to Beirut.

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Arab World

Egypt’s Sisi Says It Has Proposed a 2-Day Gaza Ceasefire and Release of 4 Hostages

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi attends the extended format meeting of the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, 23 October 2024. (EPA)
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi attends the extended format meeting of the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, 23 October 2024. (EPA)
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Egypt’s Sisi Says It Has Proposed a 2-Day Gaza Ceasefire and Release of 4 Hostages

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi attends the extended format meeting of the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, 23 October 2024. (EPA)
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi attends the extended format meeting of the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, 23 October 2024. (EPA)

Egypt’s president announced Sunday his country has proposed a two-day ceasefire between Israel and Hamas during which four hostages held in Gaza would be freed. There was no immediate response from Israel or Hamas as the latest talks were expected in Qatar, another key mediator.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, speaking in Cairo, said the proposal also includes the release of some Palestinian prisoners and the delivery of humanitarian aid to besieged Gaza. It aims to “move the situation forward,” he said, adding that once the two-day ceasefire goes into effect, negotiations would continue to make it permanent.

This is the first time Egypt’s president has publicly proposed such a plan. There hasn’t been a ceasefire since November’s weeklong pause in fighting in the earliest weeks of the war, in which 105 hostages were released in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners.

Israel’s Mossad chief was traveling to Doha on Sunday for talks with the prime minister of Qatar and the CIA chief in the latest attempt to end the fighting and ease regional tensions that have built since Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel.

Those tensions now see Israel at war with both Hamas in Gaza and with Hezbollah in Lebanon, and openly attacking Iran, their backer, for the first time this weekend. Iran’s supreme leader on Sunday said the strikes — in response to Iran’s ballistic missile attack earlier this month — “should not be exaggerated nor downplayed,” while stopping short of calling for retaliation.

During a government memorial for the Hebrew anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that “not every goal can be achieved through only military operations," adding that “painful compromises will be required” to return the hostages.

At the same event, protesters disrupted a speech by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, shouting “Shame on you." Many Israelis blame Netanyahu for the failures that led to the’ attack and hold him responsible for not yet bringing home remaining hostages.