Lebanon, Hezbollah agree to US cease-fire plan, Reuters says
Published in News & Features
Lebanon and the Hezbollah militia have reached agreement on a U.S. plan for a cease-fire with Israel, Reuters reported on Monday.
Ali Hassan Khalil, an aide to Lebanon’s parliament speaker, Nabih Berri, told the news agency that the government gave its response to Lebanon’s U.S. ambassador on Monday.
A U.S. official cautioned that negotiations were ongoing. Amos Hochstein, one of President Joe Biden’s senior Middle East advisers, was on his way to Beirut.
Khalil told Reuters that the accord, under the terms of a United Nations resolution, would call for no Hezbollah forces between the border with Israel and the Litani River.
Hezbollah has allowed Berri to negotiate on its behalf, Reuters said, adding that Israel had not commented on the cease-fire proposal.
Israel sent tanks and troops into southern Lebanon on Oct. 1, intending to weaken the Iran-backed organization after a year of cross-border fire and allow tens of thousands of residents of northern Israel to return home.
The Israeli campaign reinforced airstrikes on Beirut and elsewhere, which had killed a number of senior Hezbollah members including its leader, Hassan Nasrallah.
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(With assistance from Jenny Leonard.)
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