Washington: US Special Presidential Envoy to the Middle East Amos Hochstein told Israeli Ambassador to Washington Yechiel Leiter on Saturday that if the Israeli authorities did not support a ceasefire agreement with Lebanon in the coming days, he would stop mediating in the talks, Axios reporter Barak Ravid said on X citing a source.
The journalist added, citing an unnamed senior Israeli official, that Israel was “moving closer” to accepting a ceasefire agreement with Lebanon. Unnamed US officials confirmed that the parties were close to accepting the agreement, but there was still “some work to do.”
Last Tuesday, Hochstein arrived in Beirut on an official visit to hear the position of Lebanon and Hezbollah on the points of the agreement proposed by the US side for a ceasefire with Israel. Hochstein said on Wednesday that some progress had been made in talks with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. After his visit to Beirut, Hochstein held talks in Tel Aviv.
Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Qassem said on November 20 that the movement had agreed to continue indirect ceasefire talks with Israel based on the US proposal and mediated by Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, on the condition that there was a complete cessation of hostilities by the Israeli army and the preservation of Lebanon’s sovereignty without the Israeli side being able to invade the country’s airspace or cross land or sea borders. Qassem also noted the resistance’s decision to continue hostilities against the Israeli army in parallel with the ongoing ceasefire talks.
