US envoy expected in Beirut for ceasefire talks

BEIRUT – The US official overseeing contacts to secure a ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon is due to visit Beirut on Nov 19, sources in Lebanon said on Nov 18, with Beirut expected give its response to a US truce proposal.

The US-led ceasefire diplomacy has come back into focus as Israel has been stepping up its offensive: Israeli strikes in two Beirut neighbourhoods killed six people including at least one senior Hezbollah official on Nov 17, the first time Israel has struck central areas of the capital in a month.

The new US truce proposal was delivered last week to Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who has been endorsed by Hezbollah to negotiate.

White House envoy Amos Hochstein is expected in Beirut on Nov 19 for talks on the ceasefire, a Lebanese political source told Reuters.

Lebanese media outlet Voice of Lebanon also reported the visit, citing Lebanese lawmaker Kassem Hashem, who is part of Mr Berri’s parliamentary bloc.

World powers say a Lebanon ceasefire must be based on UN Security Council Resolution 1701 which ended a 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel. Its terms require Hezbollah to move weapons and fighters north of the Litani river, some 20km north of the border.

The diplomacy has been complicated by an Israeli demand for the freedom to act should Hezbollah violate any agreement, which Lebanon has rejected.

Israel launched its offensive after almost a year of cross-border hostilities with Hezbollah. Its declared goal is to secure the return home of tens of thousands of Israelis forced to evacuate the north due to rocket fire from Hezbollah, which opened fire in solidarity with its ally Hamas as the Gaza war got underway more than a year ago.

The Israeli campaign has uprooted more than one million people in Lebanon. Israel has dealt Hezbollah heavy blows, using airstrikes to pummel wide areas of Lebanon and sending ground forces into the south. REUTERS