Hezbollah prepared to accept truce that would allow IDF to remain in south Lebanon — report

Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri has reportedly informed the US that Hezbollah is ready to sign a full ceasefire with Israel, with the senior official in Beirut pledging to guarantee the truce’s implementation.

“I called the US ambassador to Beirut, Michel Issa, on Sunday and told him on behalf of Speaker Berri that Hezbollah will be ready to totally commit to a comprehensive ceasefire and we are ready to guarantee it,” Berri’s aide Ali Hamdan tells the Axios news site.

Axios says the ceasefire that Hezbollah is willing to accept would still allow Israel to keep its large buffer zone in south Lebanon.

Berri has close ties to Hezbollah, but it is far from clear that the senior lawmaker can ensure the terror group’s compliance with a ceasefire.

Hamdan confirms that the US proposed a partial ceasefire over the weekend that would require Hezbollah to stop striking northern Israel in return for the IDF committing to not striking Beirut.

A US official told Axios that Berri’s response to Washington’s proposal was “evasive and disappointing” — a charge rejected by Hamdan.

“The proposal we received was no Hezbollah attacks on northern Israel and that in return Israel will not bomb Beirut and then gradually the ceasefire will expand to other areas. Speaker Berri’s reply was, ‘Why a partial ceasefire? Let’s have a full ceasefire,” Hamdan says.

Berri instead proposed a full ceasefire on the ground, air and sea that would also include a cessation of Israeli home demolitions in southern Lebanon.

Hamdan tells Axios Berri has been able to exchange messages with Hezbollah’s secretary-general Naim Qassem, who is believed to be in hiding.

“We are sure Hezbollah will commit to a total ceasefire. We think it will be more productive. We know time is running out,” Hamdan says.

The same US official quoted earlier by Axios tells the news site that he stands by his earlier characterization of Berri’s response.

While the US has, for months, urged Israel not to strike Beirut, officials have refrained from doing so publicly, or even anonymously in the press.

“The US does not expect Israel to absorb ongoing attacks on its civilians by a terrorist organization,” the US official tells Axios, suggesting that Washington’s opposition to strikes in Beirut could soften.