The U.S., European allies and Arab powers proposed a three-week ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon as part of a bid to clear the way for negotiations and avert all-out war after days of air-strikes by Israeli forces.
“It is time to conclude a diplomatic settlement that enables civilians on both sides of the border to return to their homes in safety,” the nations said in a statement released Wednesday evening that called on the governments of Israel and Lebanon to implement the pause in fighting.
If they do so, the countries said they stand ready to support a push toward a deal that would end the crisis altogether—though the terms of such an agreement remained undefined.
Read More: Israel and Hezbollah Renew Fire After Deadliest Day for Lebanon in Decades
Senior Biden administration officials said that they expect the governments of Israel and Lebanon to make statements accepting the deal in the coming hours, and expressed hope that it will open the door to achieving a so-far elusive end to the fighting between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. There was no immediate word from Hezbollah on whether the Iran-backed group would agree to the deal.
The effort’s goal is to prevent a major war from breaking out, create the conditions for tens of thousands of displaced Israelis to return to their country’s north and help revive efforts for a cease-fire and hostage deal in Gaza, according to the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations.
U.S. President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron said in a statement that their effort was intended “to give diplomacy a chance to succeed and avoid further escalations across the border.”
“The exchange of fire since Oct. 7th, and in particular over the past two weeks, threatens a much broader conflict, and harm to civilians,” the pair said.
The talks involving Washington, Israel and other allies are unfolding as Israel pounds Hezbollah targets across Lebanon with air strikes and as fears grow across the region and in Western capitals that a long-feared regional expansion of the Israel-Hamas conflict was about to unfold.
More than 600 people, including at least 50 children, have been killed since Israel began bombarding southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley on Monday, Lebanese government officials said. It’s the worst violence in the region since the 2006 Lebanon war.
And it may not stop there. Israeli military officials have warned of a possible ground invasion into Lebanon, a development that could compel Iran to attack Israel.
“We are grateful for all of those who are making a sincere effort with diplomacy to avoid escalation, to avoid a full war,” Israel’s ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon said before Barrot announced the 21-day plan. “We are open to ideas.”
Earlier Wednesday, Biden framed the cease-fire proposal as part of a diplomatic process that could help unlock an end to the nearly year-old Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip—a deal his administration has doggedly pursued but failed to accomplish for months.
“I don’t want to exaggerate it, but a possibility, if we can deal with a cease-fire in Lebanon, that it can move into dealing with the West Bank, and also in Gaza—and so, it’s possible,” Biden said in an interview with ABC’s “The View.”
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken had been working on the cease-fire proposal all week in New York, according to a U.S. official familiar with the process. Blinken discussed it with French officials and urged Group of Seven foreign ministers at a dinner that night to come up with a joint approach and build consensus. He then spent two days talking with European and Arab partners discussing text of the deal, the official said.
U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy urged Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to use his country’s influence over Hezbollah to pull Lebanon back from the brink, said a person familiar with the meeting who asked not to be identified discussing private conversations.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to arrive in New York on Thursday for the annual gathering of the U.N. General Assembly. Netanyahu and top adviser Ron Dermer are involved in an attempt to come to a diplomatic solution to the spiraling military confrontation with Hezbollah, designated a terrorist group by the U.S., according to an Israeli official who declined to be named.
Even if a temporary truce is reached, officials are skeptical about how long-lasting such a deal could be and whether it would amount to the longer-term political settlement that U.S. officials have urged, according to one senior diplomat with direct knowledge of the talks.
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