US working on 60-day Lebanon truce

US mediators are working on a 60-day ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, as was reported by the Arab News via Reuters on October 30th.

Two sources – one brief on the talks and one a senior diplomat working in Lebanon – disclosed the information to Reuters, and said the two-month period would be used to implement UNSC resolution 1701. The resolution dates back to 2006 and aims to keep the south of the country free of arms that don’t belong to the Lebanese state.

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US presidential envoy Amos Hochstein, who is working on the proposal, told reporters in Beirut that neither Israel nor Lebanon implemented the resolution, and better mechanisms for enforcement were needed.

Hochstein and the source briefed on the talks told Reuters that the day truce has replaced a proposal last month by the US and other countries that envisioned a 21-day ceasefire as a prelude to the implementation of 1701. Both cautioned however that the deal may still fail. “There is an earnest push to get to a ceasefire, but it is still hard to get it to materialize,” the diplomat said.

Channel 12 television in Israel reported that the country was seeking a new version of 1701 which allowed Israel to intervene if it felt its security was threatened. Lebanese officials said meanwhile that Lebanon had not been formally briefed on the proposal.

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Hochstein and fellow presidential advisor Brett McGurk will land in Israel on October 31st to try and close the Lebanon deal, which three unnamed sources say could be implemented soon.

The war in Lebanon has killed more than 2,700 people, with another 10 killed by an Israeli strike on October 29th in Sarafand, most of whom were women and children, as reported by Middle East Eye.

Reuters, Middle East Eye