Senior US official says Lebanon ceasefire talks in Israel ‘very good’

A senior US official told Al Arabiya that Lebanon-Israel ceasefire discussions during last week’s talks in Beirut were positive and substantive.

The US asked Lebanon to declare a unilateral ceasefire with Israel to revive stalled talks to end hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, a senior Lebanese political source and a senior diplomat said – a claim denied by Lebanon’s prime minister.

They said the effort was communicated by US envoy Amos Hochstein to Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati this week, as the US stepped up diplomatic efforts for a ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.

Mikati’s office in a statement to Reuters denied the US had asked Lebanon to declare a unilateral ceasefire. It said the government’s stance was clear on seeking a ceasefire from both sides, and the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the last round of conflict between the two foes in 2006.

The US embassy in Beirut did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The sources said the US sought to persuade Beirut to take back some initiative in the talks, particularly given the perception that Israel will likely continue military operations that have already killed most of Hezbollah’s leadership and destroyed much of the country’s south.

Lebanon’s armed forces are not involved in the hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, which began firing rockets at Israeli military sites a year ago in solidarity with its Palestinian ally Hamas in Gaza.

Any effort to reach a ceasefire would need a green light from Hezbollah, which has ministers in Lebanon’s cabinet and whose members and allies hold a significant number of seats in Lebanon’s parliament.

Diplomats mediate with Hezbollah through the group’s ally, Lebanese speaker of parliament Nabih Berri. Hezbollah has said it backs efforts by Berri to reach a ceasefire but says it must meet certain parameters, without providing details.

But a unilateral declaration was seen as a non-starter in Lebanon, the sources said, where it would likely be equated with a surrender.

Another diplomat told Reuters that Hochstein had made a similar proposal months ago to Mikati and Berri.

Hochstein told them that if Hezbollah unilaterally declared a ceasefire, he “could have something to present” to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a diplomatic initiative.

“His exact words were, ‘help me, help you,” the diplomat said, adding that then-Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah rejected the idea. Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli air attack on Sept. 27 on Beirut’s southern suburbs.

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