Hochstein: This is the decision-making moment for Israel-Lebanon ceasefire

US special envoy Amos Hochstein urged Israel, Lebanon, and the Iranian-backed group Hezbollah to seize the present opportunity and agree to a ceasefire that would end the war that has raged since October 8 of last year.

“We have a real opportunity to bring this conflict to an end,” Hochsten told reporters in Beirut, adding, “This is a moment of decision-making.”

He spoke amid the Biden administration’s optimism that an opportunity to end the war is close. Both Israel and Lebanon have seen a US proposal for a ceasefire, which is based on the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the Second Lebanon War in 2006 but which was never fully implemented.

That resolution bans the operation of armed non-state actors such as Hezbollah in southern Lebanon between the Litani River and Israel’s northern border.

A ceasefire agreement is expected to have an implementation mechanism to ensure that Hezbollah can not re-arm and is likely to create a wider buffer zone such that Hezbollah would be behind the Litani River.

Among Israel’s controversial demands has been the instance that the IDF must be able to strike Hezbollah military targets as well as arms smuggling routes, including at the Syrian-Lebanese border.

Hochstein holds talks with Lebanese Parliament speaker, caretaker PM

In Lebanon, Hochstein is holding talks to finalize details regarding the ceasefire. He spoke with reporters after meeting Lebanese Parliament speaker Nabih Berri but before discussions with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati. Both men are supportive of the US ceasefire efforts.

Hochstein said his conversation with Berri was “very constructive and very helpful” and“we have continued to narrow the gaps” between all the sides.

Hochstein said his goal while in Beirut was to help facilitate decision-making around a ceasefire deal.

“But it’s ultimately the decision of the parties to reach a conclusion to this conflict,” Hochstein stressed, adding that the end of the war “is now within our grasp.”

“As the window is now, I hope the coming days yield a resolute decision,” he said.

Naim Qassem to give speech on Tuesday

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem will give a speech on Tuesday, according to the group’s media office.
A top Lebanese official told Reuters on Monday that his government and Hezbollah have agreed to the US ceasefire proposal.

Ali Hassan Khalil, an aide to Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, said Lebanon had delivered its written response to the US ambassador on Monday.

“Lebanon presented its comments on the paper in a positive atmosphere,” Khalil said, declining to give further details. “All the comments that we presented affirm the precise adherence to (UN) Resolution 1701 with all its provisions,” he said.

Khalil said the success of the initiative now depended on Israel, saying if Israel did not want a solution, “it could make 100 problems.”

Israel, he changed, was trying to negotiate “under fire,” a reference to an escalation of its bombardment of Beirut and the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs. “This won’t affect our position,” he said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was blunt about that strategy, telling the Knesset plenum on Monday, that Israel was negotiating under fire.

Reuters contributed to this report.