Hezbollah considers peace proposal as efforts to end conflict intensify

Hezbollah is considering a US-Israeli ceasefire proposal as diplomatic efforts to end the conflict in the Middle East intensify, CNN reported on Friday.

The US ambassador to Lebanon, Lisa Johnson, presented the proposal to the Lebanese government on Thursday night (local time), CNN reported quoting a Lebanese official familiar with the discussions.

Authorities are "optimistic" that Hezbollah would agree to the terms of the agreement and they expect to submit an official response to the latest proposal next Monday, the official said.

"Diplomatic efforts are on fire now," the source told CNN. 

US Ambassador to Lebanon, Lisa Johnson outlined to Lebanon's Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri - who is close to Hezbollah - is the first to be submitted by the US and Israel since a temporary ceasefire was negotiated in late September. Those efforts were upended when Israel killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in a major bombing attack in Beirut's southern suburbs.

 

Another Lebanese official familiar with the discussions around the ceasefire told CNN that US President-elect Donald Trump has endorsed the ongoing negotiations, which have been spearheaded by the Biden administration's special envoy to Lebanon, Amos Hochstein.

The US-Israeli proposal aims for a 60-day peace and is being portrayed as the basis of a lasting ceasefire, according to the first Lebanese official, adding that terms lie within the parameters of UN Resolution 1701 which ended the Lebanon-Israel war of 2006.

The resolution stipulates that the only armed groups in the area south of Lebanon's Litani River should be the Lebanese army and UN peacekeeping forces, CNN reported.

"The points mainly focus on the mechanism of implementation and on the role of the Lebanese Armed Forces in implementing 1701in the south of the Litani River," the official said, adding that it also deals with smuggling routes through the country's international borders.

Earlier in the day, Hezbollah claimed that it targeted what it identified as the Tel Haim military base in Tel Aviv, located approximately 120 kilometres from the Lebanon border, Al Jazeera reported.

After the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023, Hezbollah began launching rockets and launching drones at northern Israel communities daily. More than 68,000 residents of northern Israel are displaced from their homes. Hezbollah leaders have repeatedly said they would continue the attacks to prevent Israelis from returning to their homes.