Lebanon PM hopes for truce with Israel in ‘coming hours or days’
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said US envoy Amos Hochstein had signaled on October 30th that a truce in Lebanon was possible before the US election onNovember 5th, according to the Arab News via AFP.
“The call today with Hochstein suggested to me that perhaps we could reach a ceasefire in the coming days, before the fifth” of November, Najib Mikati said in an interview with Lebanese broadcaster Al-Jadeed.
Hochstein was heading to Israel on October 30th to discuss a ceasefire with Hezbollah, according to State Department spokesman Matthew Miller.
READ: US hasn’t pursued hundreds of incidents of civilian harm in Gaza
New Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said on the same day that Israel would agree to a deal if terms were acceptable, although pointed out that a workable deal hasn’t yet been presented.
“We are doing our best… to have a ceasefire within the coming hours or days,” Mikati told Al-Jadeed, adding that he was “cautiously optimistic.”
Mikati also said that Hezbollah no longer wants to link a ceasefire in Lebanon to a similar agreement in Gaza, although the criticized them for this decision coming “late.” This is a change from Hezbollah, who previously said a truce in Lebanon was conditional on an end to the war on Gaza.
READ: US working on 60-day Lebanon truce
Mikati added that a ceasefire would be linked to UN Resolution 1701 that dates back to 2006. The resolution states that only Lebanon’s army and UN peacekeepers should operate in the south of the country, while Israel must withdraw from all of Lebanon.
“The Lebanese army is ready to strengthen its presence in southern Lebanon” and ensure that only state weapons and military infrastructure are in the area Mikati said. UNIFIL, the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, called on all parties to follow Resolution 1701, according to Anadolu Agency.
AFP, Anadolu Agency