US Working on Lebanon Truce, Sources Say, as Israel Bombards Baalbek

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted Lebanon's eastern city of Baalbek, in the Bekaa valley, on October 30, 2024. (AFP)
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted Lebanon's eastern city of Baalbek, in the Bekaa valley, on October 30, 2024. (AFP)
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US Working on Lebanon Truce, Sources Say, as Israel Bombards Baalbek

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted Lebanon's eastern city of Baalbek, in the Bekaa valley, on October 30, 2024. (AFP)
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted Lebanon's eastern city of Baalbek, in the Bekaa valley, on October 30, 2024. (AFP)

US mediators are working on a proposal to halt hostilities between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah, starting with a 60-day ceasefire, two sources said on Wednesday, as Israel pressed its offensive by bombarding Lebanon's historic city of Baalbek.

The sources - a person briefed on the talks and a senior diplomat working on Lebanon - told Reuters the two-month period would be used to finalize full implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, adopted in 2006 to keep southern Lebanon free of arms outside state control.

The White House said that officials Brett McGurk and Amos Hochstein would visit Israel on Thursday. A US official had said they would be there to discuss a range of issues "including Gaza, Lebanon, hostages, Iran and broader regional matters".

Hezbollah's new leader Naim Qassem said the Iran-backed armed group would agree to a ceasefire within certain parameters if Israel wanted to stop the war, but that Israel had so far not agreed to any proposal that could be discussed.

It was Qassem's first speech as secretary-general, a day after Hezbollah announced his election to the post after Israel assassinated the group's longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah.

The latest ceasefire efforts come as Israel's operation against the heavily armed, Shiite group Hezbollah in Lebanon continues to expand.

Its army launched heavy airstrikes on Wednesday on the eastern city of Baalbek, famed for its Roman temples, and nearby villages, security sources told Reuters, following an Israeli evacuation order. Tens of thousands of Lebanese, including many who had sought shelter in Baalbek from other areas, fled after the warning was issued.

Bilal Raad, regional head of the Lebanese civil defense, said the largely volunteer force had been calling on residents to leave via megaphones after receiving phone calls from someone identifying themselves as being from the Israeli military.

"People are all over each other, the whole city is in a panic trying to figure out where to go, there's a huge traffic jam," he said ahead of the bombardment.

Some of the areas they are fleeing to are already full of people displaced earlier by the Hezbollah-Israel conflict.

Antoine Habchi, a lawmaker representing Christian-majority Deir al-Ahmar to the northwest of Baalbek, said more than 10,000 people were already sheltering in homes, schools and churches.

"We welcome everyone, of course, but we need immediate government help so that these people don't stay out in the cold," he told Reuters.

Lebanon's health ministry said at least 11 people had been killed in an Israeli bombing of one town in the Bekaa Valley region where Baalbek is located but did not have an immediate toll for the entire day's strikes.

It said 2,822 people have been killed in Israel's military campaign in Lebanon since October 2023. More than 1.2 million people have been displaced.

HEZBOLLAH FUEL STORES HIT

Following the airstrikes, the Israeli military said it had targeted Hezbollah fuel reservoirs in the Bekaa. A Lebanese security source told Reuters that a massive explosion followed by a huge column of black smoke had been caused by strikes on Hezbollah's fuel stores.

Responding to a question about Israel's bombardment of Baalbek, the US State Department reiterated on Wednesday that Washington supports Israel's right to go after legitimate Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. But it said Israel must do so in a way that does not threaten civilians, critical civilian infrastructure and significant cultural heritage sites.

For a third straight day, Hezbollah reported intense fighting with Israeli forces in or around the southern town of Khiyam - the deepest Israel's troops are reported to have penetrated into Lebanon since fighting escalated five weeks ago.

Hezbollah also said that it had targeted a military camp southeast of Tel Aviv in Israel with missiles.

Resolution 1701 has been the cornerstone of talks to end the past year of clashes between Israel and Hezbollah, which erupted along the border in parallel with the war in Gaza and has dramatically intensified since late September.

"We'd like to reiterate that we seek a diplomatic resolution that fully implements 1701 and gets both Israeli and Lebanese citizens back to their homes on both sides of the border," said Sama Habib, spokesperson at the US Embassy in Beirut, when asked about the reported proposal.

US envoy Hochstein told reporters in Beirut earlier this month that better mechanisms for enforcement were needed as neither Israel nor Lebanon had fully implemented the 18-year-old resolution.

The two sources told Reuters that the 60-day truce has replaced a proposal last month by the United States and other countries that envisioned a ceasefire for 21 days as a prelude to 1701 coming into full force.

Both, however, cautioned that the deal could still fall through. "There is an earnest push to get to a ceasefire, but it is still hard to get it to materialize," the diplomat said.

The push for a ceasefire for Lebanon comes days before the US presidential election and alongside a similar diplomatic drive to end hostilities in Gaza.



Khiam: The Center of Arab-Israeli Conflict Faces ‘Fourth Wave of Destruction’

Intense Israeli airstrike targets Khiam, Lebanon (AFP)
Intense Israeli airstrike targets Khiam, Lebanon (AFP)
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Khiam: The Center of Arab-Israeli Conflict Faces ‘Fourth Wave of Destruction’

Intense Israeli airstrike targets Khiam, Lebanon (AFP)
Intense Israeli airstrike targets Khiam, Lebanon (AFP)

Residents of Khiam in southern Lebanon, hit by 12 airstrikes on Wednesday morning, see the attacks as yet another wave of destruction for a town scarred by conflict.
“Khiam has been devastated repeatedly, enduring pain with each blow over decades,” residents say. The town has already been destroyed three times since 1948 and faces new fears amid an intense military campaign and assault attempts.
Khiam, the largest town in the Marjayoun district, houses 35,000 people and over 5,000 homes.
Since 2006, it has expanded significantly, becoming a tourist spot with guesthouses known as “chalets.”
Since Oct. 2023, parts of these buildings, mainly on Khiam’s southern and eastern edges near Israel’s Metula settlement, have been damaged.
A Historic Staging Point Against Israel
Perched on high ground overlooking the Galilee, Khiam is open from the east, west, and south, providing a strategic link to the Golan Heights, Jordan, and northern Israel.
The town is known as the “last major Shia community” near Lebanon’s southern border, neighboring Christian, Druze, and Sunni areas.
This position made Khiam a focal point for Arab fighters against Israel since the 1940s and a regular flashpoint.
Historian Dr. Munzer Jaber says Khiam and other border villages have long faced displacement and Israeli bombardment.
In the 1940s, Khiam became a base for the Arab Salvation Army, which gathered volunteers from southern Lebanon and Syria, including units from Majdal Shams and Deir ez-Zor, led by Abdul Salam al-Ajili.
Since then, Khiam has seen frequent clashes with Israel due to its proximity to Metula, which Israel considers a strategic stronghold, Jaber noted to Asharq Al-Awsat.
Adding to the tensions, overlapping property claims among Syrians, Lebanese, Palestinians, and Jewish residents often lead to disputes.
The repeated destruction and conflict in Khiam have driven waves of migration to Beirut, especially after Palestine fell, cutting off jobs for southern Lebanese. Key markets in Marjayoun, Bint Jbeil, and Khiam shut down, leaving the local economy in decline.
Khiam lost its political and economic role until 1965, when the first Palestinian guerrilla operation against Israel shifted its focus to militant activity. Palestinian and leftist groups gained influence, sparking local divisions and causing many residents to leave as Palestinian forces moved in.
Jaber told Asharq Al-Awsat that this conflict created a strong pro-guerrilla movement among Khiam’s youth, leading to clashes with local leaders.
The growing Palestinian presence gave Israel a reason for airstrikes and security raids, which intensified in late 1973, pushing more residents to flee.
The Khiam Massacre
Israel intensified its military operations in Khiam over the years. In September 1977, Israeli forces entered the town, leading to fierce clashes with the pro-Israel militia led by Saad Haddad and Lebanese-Palestinian joint forces.
Israel officially occupied Khiam on March 14, 1978, during the first invasion of southern Lebanon, following three days of heavy bombardment.
Just a few days later, on March 17, Haddad’s militia carried out a massacre, killing 61 people, the youngest being just 60 years old. Residents reported widespread displacement and complete destruction of the town.
Ongoing Destruction
For five years, residents did not return, as Khiam became unlivable. After Israel's occupation, some residents slowly returned as a security zone was established.
The “South Lebanon Army,” led by Antoine Lahad, took over the notorious Khiam prison.
In the 1980s, Israel turned the town into a training ground for urban warfare, conducting drills that left it in a state of sustained destruction for 15 years, until Israel withdrew in 2000.
After the liberation of southern Lebanon, Khiam began to expand as residents returned, rebuilding homes and starting businesses.
However, around 40% of these new structures were destroyed during the 2006 war, marking the third wave of destruction.
The conflict saw Hezbollah destroy several Israeli Merkava tanks in the Khiam plains.
Once again, residents rebuilt, creating a more modern town with new mansions, schools, and healthcare facilities, making it a key hub in the region.
2023 Conflict
The situation in Khiam is once again dire as Hezbollah launched its war in support of Gaza on Oct. 8, 2023. Official sources report that by Sept. 23, more than 550 residential units had been destroyed.
Each day, Khiam faces artillery shelling and Israeli airstrikes, with the frequency of these attacks rising recently. Israeli forces have begun a ground operation to take control of the town and its elevated areas.