Lebanon: prime minister believes ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah possible

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati has expressed hope that a ceasefire could be reached soon to end fighting between Israel and Hezbollah that has shaken his country and raised fears of a ground invasion, Reuters has reported.

The US, France and several allies called for an immediate 21-day ceasefire across the Israel-Lebanon border while also expressing support for a ceasefire in Gaza following intense discussions at the UN on Wednesday. UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert today welcomed the call for an immediate 21-day ceasefire to allow the space for diplomacy to succeed.

Mikati also welcomed the call for a ceasefire, but said that the key to its implementation is whether Israel, which has been moving troops closer to Lebanon, is committed to enforcing international resolutions. Asked if a ceasefire could be secured soon, Mikati told Reuters: “Hopefully, yes.”

The ceasefire would apply to the Israel-Lebanon “Blue Line”, the demarcation line between the two countries patrolled by UN peacekeeping forces (UNIFIL), and would allow the parties to negotiate towards a potential diplomatic resolution of the conflict, said a senior Biden administration official.

The caretaker administration in Lebanon includes ministers chosen by Hezbollah, seen widely as the country’s most powerful political force.

Israel has made it a priority to secure its northern border and allow the return of some 70,000 residents displaced by near-daily exchanges of fire since Israel’s war against the Palestinians in Gaza broke out last October.

The occupation state carried out more air strikes in Lebanon on Wednesday and at least 72 people were killed, according to a Reuters compilation of Lebanese health ministry statements. The ministry earlier said that at least 223 were wounded. Almost 1,250 Lebanese have been killed in Israeli air strikes since last October, most of them civilians, and including children and women.

Israel’s military chief of staff said a ground assault was possible, raising fears that the conflict could spark a wider Middle East war. Over the past several months, Washington has been engaging with officials in Israel and Lebanon to reduce hostilities.

Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon told reporters before a UN Security Council meeting on Wednesday that Israel would welcome a ceasefire and preferred a diplomatic solution. He then told the Security Council that Iran was the nexus of violence in the region and peace required dismantling the threat. He did not mention that Israel has invaded Lebanon on a number of occasions, notably in 1978, 1982, 1993, 1996 and 2006.

World leaders voiced concern that the conflict — running in parallel to Israel’s war in Gaza, described as “genocide” — was escalating rapidly as the death toll rose in Lebanon and thousands fled their homes.

Israeli air strikes this week have targeted Hezbollah leaders and hit hundreds of sites deep inside Lebanon, where hundreds of thousands have fled the border region. Hezbollah, meanwhile, has responded by firing rockets at mainly military targets in Israel.

The resistance movement has suffered heavy blows recently. Some of its senior commanders have been assassinated and thousands of communications devices used by its members exploded simultaneously last week, killing at least 37 people and wounding around 3,000. Israel has been blamed for the attack, which has been described as “terrorism”.

Lebanese hospitals have filled with the wounded since Monday, when Israeli bombing killed more than 550 people in Lebanon’s deadliest day since its civil war ended in 1990.

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