Israel Hope for a ceasefire in Lebanon

SDA

31.10.2024 - 05:05

Rescue workers use excavators to remove the rubble of a destroyed building that was hit by an Israeli air strike. Photo: Bilal Hussein/AP/dpa
Rescue workers use excavators to remove the rubble of a destroyed building that was hit by an Israeli air strike. Photo: Bilal Hussein/AP/dpa
Keystone

Shortly before the US presidential election, the possibility of a ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah militia is emerging.

He hopes that this will happen "within days", said the caretaker Prime Minister in Lebanon, Nadschib Mikati, to the local television station Al-Jadeed. There was initially no confirmation from the Lebanese Hezbollah militia, Israel or the USA. However, the US envoy for the Middle East, Amos Hochststein, is expected in Israel today for talks. Mikati said that he had informed him that the talks would be about a possible ceasefire. According to Israeli media, the White House Middle East Coordinator, Brett McGurk, will also be present.

War continues for the time being

Meanwhile, Israel continues to wage war against Hezbollah and its Islamist ally Hamas in the Gaza Strip. During the night, sirens again warned of attacks from the air in northern Israel, according to the Israeli army. A drone flying in from Lebanon was successfully intercepted and a number of other projectiles hit open ground. Over the course of Wednesday, Hezbollah fired around 60 shells. Israel's army in turn attacked targets in eastern Lebanon, including in the ancient city of Baalbek.

At least 19 people were killed there, the Lebanese Ministry of Health later announced. Eyewitnesses had reported that Israel's air force had bombed the town and villages in the surrounding area. The Israeli army stated that it could not confirm attacks on Baalbek. However, the air force had bombed Hezbollah command centers in the area of the city. None of the information could initially be independently verified. The approximately 80,000 inhabitants of Baalbek were ordered to evacuate on Wednesday. Many of them fled as a result, eyewitnesses reported.

US government seeks ceasefire

The war situation in the Middle East is an important issue in the US election campaign. In particular, there is harsh criticism of Israel's military action in the Gaza Strip with devastating consequences for the civilian population - and thus of Washington's support for the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Outgoing US President Joe Biden is keen to be able to announce a success in the struggle for agreements on a ceasefire in the Middle East before election day on November 5. This could earn his party colleague and Vice President Kamala Harris valuable votes and possibly even help her to victory. Israel's enemies, on the other hand, must fear that Donald Trump, a president who has been very sympathetic to Netanyahu's government in the past, will move into the White House.

When asked about the possibility of a ceasefire in Lebanon in the next one to two weeks, a White House spokeswoman said that they would continue to work for a diplomatic solution so that the civilian population on both sides of the border could return to their homes. However, no one will conduct negotiations in public or provide information about where they are in the talks.

Lebanon's government: We are ready

The conditions for a ceasefire are the implementation of UN Resolution 1701, the deployment of the Lebanese army in the south of Lebanon and the consolidation of its presence in the border area, said Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Mikati according to the Arabic news channel Al-Jazeera. Details from an alleged US proposal for an agreement on a ceasefire, which was reported unanimously by several Israeli media in the evening, read similarly. UN Resolution 1701 stipulates that Hezbollah should withdraw behind the Litani River - around 30 kilometers from the border with Israel.

The rumored US proposal would see Israeli soldiers leave Lebanon within seven days of the end of hostilities, as reported by the television station Kan 11. Instead, a total of 10,000 soldiers from the regular Lebanese army are to be stationed on the border with Israel within the first 60 days of the agreement being signed. The draft also provides for Lebanon's government to monitor all arms sales to the country as well as arms production. Israel and Lebanon are also to conduct negotiations on the full implementation of UN Resolution 1701 after 60 days.

The USA and other countries such as Germany are to monitor the implementation of the agreement. According to reports, the draft, which is said to have been drawn up by US envoy Amos Hochstein, has been presented to the leadership in Israel. Hochstein has been working towards a ceasefire for months.

Hezbollah Secretary General: Conflicts are connected

In a speech, the new Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Kassim once again said that the conflicts between Hamas and Hezbollah were linked to Israel. Hezbollah had also previously declared that it would only agree to a ceasefire if a corresponding agreement was reached in Gaza. The Shiite militia has acted like a state within a state in Lebanon for decades and, like Hamas, is supported by Iran.

During his visit to Lebanon last week, Hochstein said that he wanted to decouple the war between Israel and Hezbollah from other conflicts. "It was not and is not in the interest of the Lebanese to link the future of Lebanon to other conflicts in the region," he said after a meeting with parliamentary leader Nabih Berri, who is considered an ally of Hezbollah. Berri said that Hochstein's visit was "the last chance (...) to reach a solution" before the US presidential election next week.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has invited representatives of more than 50 Arab and other Islamic states to another summit on the war in the Middle East. The top-level meeting on November 11 in Riyadh is to discuss the "sinful Israeli aggression against the occupied Palestinian territories and its extension to Lebanon", the state agency SPA reported. The summit follows on from a similar meeting a year earlier in Riyadh. A committee made up of various ministers was set up to work towards an end to the Gaza war - however, not much has come of this initiative so far.

SDA