Israeli officials have said progress has been made in negotiations to reach a ceasefire in Lebanon, with talks “in advanced stages” as Lebanon reels from an Israeli massacre that killed at least 60 people in and around the eastern city of Baalbek, according to reports.
The Israeli Ynet News news site reported that US envoy Amos Hochstein could travel to Israel and Lebanon before the US presidential elections on 5 November in a bid to kick-start ceasefire talks.
Ynet said that a possible ceasefire would see Israel withdraw most of its troops from southern Lebanon and remain only in areas of “tactical significance”.
A 60-day ceasefire would be established while the Lebanese army would be deployed to the south.
There would allegedly be a new international mechanism to supervise the area but no new Security Council resolution to replace Resolution 1701, which was passed in 2006 and called for the withdrawal of Hezbollah and Israeli forces from Lebanon south of the Litani River.
The Lebanese army would reportedly deploy between 5,000 and 10,000 troops and UNIFIL forces would be increased, with troops from countries friendly to Israel, such as the UK, France, and Germany added to their contingent, according to Israeli officials cited by Ynet.
However, previous hopes for a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, as well as a ceasefire in Gaza, have been dashed as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected proposals from the US and other mediators.
Hezbollah ‘strength’
In response to the Ynet report, a source close to Hezbollah told The New Arab’s sister site Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that the group rejects negotiations “under fire” and would only accept a deal that was “in Lebanon’s interests”.
“The resistance is now in a position of strength and the enemy [Israel] must understand this,” the source said.
“It’s true that there were big setbacks when top leaders were assassinated, but [Hezbollah] has gone back to the field in strength… and has caused great losses for the [Israeli] occupation army.”
This sentiment was reportedly echoed by French and US officials pushing for a ceasefire, according to Ynet, who said that Hezbollah had been strengthened in the past two weeks, inflicting more casualties on Israeli forces.
They reportedly said that the opportunity for a ceasefire “must not be missed”.
Hezbollah on Tuesday named Naim Qassem as its new secretary general following the assassination of Hassan Nasrallah by Israel, but Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant warned his leadership over the movement would not last long.
News of reported progress in ceasefire talks came as Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel on Tuesday, killing one Israeli in the town of Maalot.
Also on Tuesday, Israeli ground forces made their deepest incursion yet into southern Lebanon, reaching the outskirts of the village of Khiam, around six kilometres from the border with Israel.
Lebanon’s official National News Agency reported the entry of “a large number of tanks belonging to the Israeli occupation army”.
On Monday evening at least 60 people by Israel raids – described as the ‘most violent ever’ – on Baalbek and the eastern Bekaa Valley.
At least 16 deaths were recorded in Al-Alaq, west of Baalbek city, according to the Lebanese health ministry.
According to an AFP tally based on official figures, at least 1,700 people have been killed in Lebanon since 23 September, when Israel launched an air and ground offensive against Lebanon, dramatically escalating a low-intensity conflict into a full-blown war.
The Israeli military has lost 37 soldiers in its Lebanon campaign since it began a ground invasion on 30 September.
