A senior US mediator said on Tuesday there was a "real opportunity" to end the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah and that gaps were narrowing, signaling progress in Washington's efforts to clinch a ceasefire.
White House envoy Amos Hochstein spoke in Beirut after talks with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a day after the Lebanese government and Iran-backed Hezbollah agreed to a US ceasefire proposal, although with comments on the content.
"I came back because we have a real opportunity to bring this conflict to an end," Hochstein told a press conference after the meeting. "It is now within our grasp. As the window is now, I hope the coming days yield a resolute decision."
Hochstein's mission marks a last-ditch attempt by the outgoing US administration to broker a ceasefire in Lebanon.
Berri told Asharq Al-Awsat that the situation was "good in principle" and some details of the ceasefire proposal still needed to be hashed out, including technical details.
He said Hochstein would settle those details before travelling on to Israel, and that Lebanon saw the United States as the guarantor of the Israeli stance.
Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen said at a conference on Tuesday that "there are talks regarding an arrangement with Lebanon" but that Israel would agree only if all its demands were met, including pushing Hezbollah away from the border.
The diplomatic efforts coincide with an intensification of the war, with Israel stepping up strikes on Beirut's Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs and striking three times in the capital itself in the last three days.
The conflict spiraled in September when Israel began an offensive, pounding wide areas of Lebanon with airstrikes, sending troops into the south and killing many Hezbollah commanders including leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Hezbollah has endorsed its long-time ally Berri as Lebanon's negotiator.
Hochstein flew to Beirut overnight after Lebanon delivered its written response to a US ceasefire proposal which Berri received last week from the US ambassador.
Israel started its offensive after almost a year of cross-border hostilities with Hezbollah, which said it was acting in solidarity with Hamas after the Palestinian group's Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel led to the start of the Gaza war.
Israel's declared goal is to dismantle Hezbollah's capabilities and secure the return of tens of thousands of Israelis evacuated from the north.
An Israeli strike killed two people in the Chiyah district of Beirut's southern suburbs, the Lebanese health ministry said.
At least 35 projectiles were fired into Israel from Lebanon on Tuesday, some of which were intercepted, and two drones were also intercepted, Israel's military said.
ISRAELI DEMANDS
Lebanon has rejected Israeli demands to be granted "freedom of action", which Cohen signaled should apply if Hezbollah attacks or restores its strength, and Berri said last week the US proposal did not mention this.
World powers say a ceasefire must be based on UN Security Council Resolution 1701 which ended a 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah. Its terms require Hezbollah to move weapons and fighters north of the Litani River, about 30 km (20 miles) north of the border with Israel.
Ali Hassan Khalil, a top Berri aide, told Reuters on Monday that Lebanon had presented its comments on the US proposal "in a positive atmosphere and that those comments "affirm the precise adherence to Resolution 1701 with all its provisions."
Israeli attacks have killed at least 3,544 people and wounded 15,036 in Lebanon since October 2023, with 28 fatalities reported on Monday, the Lebanese caretaker health ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
Hezbollah strikes have killed 43 civilians in northern Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, while 73 soldiers have been killed in strikes in northern Israel and the Golan Heights and in combat in southern Lebanon, according to Israeli figures.
