US envoy Hochstein said heading to Beirut amid apparent progress in ceasefire push
Lebanon submits ‘positive’ response to US draft proposal, but Hezbollah reportedly seeks several changes including on Israel’s freedom of action if truce terms are violated
US special envoy Amos Hochstein will travel to Beirut on Tuesday for talks on a truce between the Hezbollah terror group and Israel, a Lebanese political source told Reuters Monday, amid reports that Lebanon had responded positively to a ceasefire proposal submitted by the US.
Lebanon’s LBC media network reported Monday that a “positive” response to the US ceasefire proposal had been submitted to the US embassy in Beirut, and would be reviewed by Hochstein ahead of his visit to the region.
A leaked draft of the US proposal published by the Kan public broadcaster earlier this month showed that the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah would include the full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, the establishment of an international oversight committee and the deployment of some 10,000 Lebanese Armed Forces troops along the border with Israel.
At the same time, the leaked draft suggested that Israel would retain the right to self-defense and be granted permission to act against any violations of the deal’s terms, a stipulation that Hezbollah, and Lebanese officials as a whole, have taken exception to.
Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has called repeatedly for the implementation of Resolution 1701 from the year 2006, which ended the Second Lebanon War and forbids Hezbollah from maintaining a presence south of the Litani River.
In addition to the response submitted by the Lebanese government, LBC reported that Hezbollah issued one of its own to Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally who is leading negotiations, in which it outlined a position consistent with the terms of Resolution 1701.
Citing an unnamed source with knowledge of the matter, Axios reporter Barak Ravid wrote on X that “Hezbollah’s response to the draft ceasefire agreement with Israel was ‘yes, but.'”
A source speaking to Lebanon’s Al-Hadath news outlet on Monday likewise cautioned that Hezbollah’s response was not without caveats, and that the terror group could still reject the proposal should certain changes not be implemented.
“The text of the ceasefire agreement is good, but its wording shows that Israel is the victor, and so it might not be passed,” the source explained. “Hezbollah considers the US proposal to constitute a foundation for any agreement, but a long discussion is required.”
To that end, Lebanese media reported, the purpose of Hochstein’s visit will not be to declare an immediate truce but rather to iron out several sticking points in the proposal.
One such issue is the matter of the international oversight board, or the International Monitoring and Enforcement Mechanism, proposed to oversee the implementation of Resolution 1701, independent Lebanese news outlet Al Jadeed reported Monday.
As per the leaked draft agreement, IMEM would be chaired by the US and would include Italy, France, Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, the UNIFIL international peacekeeping force, and several regional countries.
The board would be tasked with addressing threats such as weapons shipments to Lebanon or weapons production, and should it fail to address these issues, Israel would be granted the right to strike such targets after consulting with the US.
However, Lebanon is expected to ask for changes to the board’s proposed member countries and the way in which it operates.
According to Israel’s Channel 12 news outlet, Lebanon is seeking to limit IMEM membership to just the US and France, and is opposed to opening it up to a wider group of countries.
During Hochstein’s visit, Berri is also expected to seek clarification on behalf of Hezbollah regarding the matter of Israel’s right to act in self-defense after the ceasefire comes into effect, Channel 12 reported.
Berri is opposed to the reported clause, arguing that there must be a guarantee that once a truce is reached “the Israeli attacks in Lebanon will stop on land, at sea, and in the air.”
He argued that without these guarantees, there would be little benefit from a ceasefire.
Other amendments that Lebanon is reportedly expected to seek include a guarantee that it will not be required to share data with Israeli forces that pertains to the operations of Lebanese troops or international peacekeeping forces, as it believes that doing so will lead to internal instability.
At the same time as diplomats seek to restore calm along the Israel-Lebanon border, independent Lebanese lawmaker Waddah Sadek called during an interview with Al-Hadath for Hezbollah to dismantle its center of operations in Beirut and for the Lebanese Armed Forces to prevent the terror group from operating within the city limits, citing the destruction that its presence has brought upon the capital.
He told the news outlet that he had received requests from his Beirut constituents who expressed anger over Hezbollah’s presence in their neighborhoods and called for the terror group to be barred from the city.
Israel has conducted numerous airstrikes in Beirut’s southern suburbs over the last two months, targeting Hezbollah buildings and assets, mainly in the terror group’s Dahiyeh stronghold.
Despite the cautious optimism regarding the ceasefire negotiations, Sadek told Al-Hadath that he was doubtful that a deal is on the horizon.
According to Sadek, Hezbollah parliamentary representatives are not yet ready to accept a ceasefire proposal and appeared to be waiting for an elusive victory against Israel on the battlefield, instead.
Since October 8, 2023, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it is doing so to support Gaza amid the war there.
Some 60,000 residents were evacuated from northern towns on the Lebanon border shortly after fellow terror group Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught amid fears Hezbollah would carry out a similar attack, and because of increasing rocket fire by the terror group.
The attacks on northern Israel have resulted in the deaths of 43 civilians. In addition, 69 IDF soldiers and reservists have died in cross-border skirmishes and in the ensuing ground operation launched in southern Lebanon in late September. Two soldiers have been killed in a drone attack from Iraq, and there have also been several attacks from Syria, without any injuries.
The IDF estimates that some 3,000 Hezbollah operatives have been killed in the conflict. Around 100 members of other terror groups, along with hundreds of civilians, have also been reported killed in Lebanon. Hezbollah has named 516 members who have been killed by Israel amid the fighting, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria. These numbers have not been consistently updated since Israel began a new offensive against Hezbollah in September.
Lazar Berman and agencies contributed to this report.
