Situation at a glance: Hope for a ceasefire in Lebanon

Shortly before the US presidential election, the possibility of a ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah militia is emerging. He hopes that this will happen “within days,” said Lebanon’s acting Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, to the local Al-Jadeed television station. There was initially no confirmation from the Lebanese Hezbollah militia, Israel or the USA. However, US Middle East envoy Amos Hochststein is expected in Israel for talks today. He informed him that it would be about a possible ceasefire, said Mikati. According to Israeli media, White House Middle East Coordinator Brett McGurk will also be there.

War continues for now

Meanwhile, Israel continues to wage war against Hezbollah and its allied Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip. During the night, sirens again warned of air attacks in northern Israel, the Israeli army said. A drone that flew in from Lebanon was successfully intercepted, and a number of other projectiles landed in open areas. Hezbollah fired around 60 projectiles over the course of Wednesday. Israel’s army, in turn, attacked targets in eastern Lebanon, including the ancient city of Baalbek.

The Lebanese Ministry of Health later announced that at least 19 people were killed there. Eyewitnesses reported that Israel’s air force bombed the city and surrounding villages. The Israeli army said it could not confirm attacks on Baalbek. The air force bombed, among other things, Hezbollah command centers in the area of ​​the city. None of the information could initially be independently verified. The approximately 80,000 residents of Baalbek were asked to evacuate on Wednesday. Many of them then fled, eyewitnesses reported.

US government seeks ceasefire

The war situation in the Middle East is an important issue in the US election campaign. There is particularly harsh criticism of Israel’s military action in the Gaza Strip, which has devastating consequences for the civilian population – and associated with Washington’s support for the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Outgoing US President Joe Biden is keen to report success in the struggle for agreements on a ceasefire in the Middle East before election day on November 5th. This could bring his party colleague and Vice President Kamala Harris valuable votes and possibly even help him win. Israel’s enemies, in turn, must fear that Donald Trump, a president who has been very favorable to the Netanyahu government in the past, will move into the White House.

Asked about the possibility of a ceasefire in Lebanon in the next week or two, a White House spokeswoman said they would continue to push for a diplomatic solution so that civilians on both sides of the country’s border could return to their homes. However, no one will conduct negotiations in public or provide information about where they are in the discussions.

Lebanon’s government: We are ready

The conditions for a ceasefire are the implementation of UN Resolution 1701, the stationing of the Lebanese army in the south of Lebanon and the consolidation of its presence in the border area, said Lebanon’s acting Prime Minister Mikati, according to the Arabic news channel Al Jazeera. Details from an alleged US proposal for a ceasefire agreement, which several Israeli media outlets reported unanimously in the evening, read similarly. UN Resolution 1701 requires Hezbollah to withdraw behind the Litani River – about 30 kilometers from the border with Israel.

The rumored US proposal would stipulate that Israel’s soldiers leave Lebanon within seven days of the end of hostilities, as reported by the Kan 11 television station. Instead, a total of 10,000 soldiers from the regular Lebanese army are to be stationed on the border with Israel within the first 60 days after the agreement is signed. The draft also stipulates that Lebanon’s government monitors all arms sales to the country as well as arms production. Israel and Lebanon are also scheduled to hold negotiations on the full implementation of UN Resolution 1701 after 60 days.

The USA and other countries such as Germany should monitor the implementation of the agreement. The draft, said to be from US envoy Amos Hochstein, was reportedly presented to the leadership in Israel. Hochstein has been trying for a ceasefire for months.

Hezbollah Secretary General: Conflicts are interconnected

The new Hezbollah General Secretary Naim Kassim spoke again in a speech that the conflicts between Hamas and Hezbollah were related to Israel. Hezbollah had previously stated that it would only agree to a ceasefire if there was an agreement in Gaza. The Shiite militia has operated like a state within a state in Lebanon for decades and, like Hamas, is supported by Iran.

During his visit to Lebanon last week, Hochstein said he wanted to decouple the war between Israel and Hezbollah from other conflicts. “It was and is not in the interest of the Lebanese to link the future of Lebanon with other conflicts in the region,” he said after a meeting with parliament speaker Nabih Berri, who is considered an ally of Hezbollah. Berri said Hochstein’s visit was “the last chance (…) to come to a solution” before the US presidential election next week.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has invited representatives from more than 50 Arab and other Islamic states to another summit on the war in the Middle East. The top meeting on November 11th in Riyadh will be about the “sinful Israeli aggression against the occupied Palestinian territories and its extension to Lebanon,” the state agency SPA reported. The summit follows a similar meeting a year earlier in Riyadh. A committee made up of various ministers was set up to work towards an end to the Gaza war – but not much has come of this initiative so far.