Israel and Hezbollah have made progress on a possible ceasefire deal, according to the U.S. official dedicated to trying to end the conflict.
U.S. envoy to the Middle East Amos Hochstein said on Tuesday that the gaps between the two sides had “narrowed” and that “we have a real opportunity to bring this conflict to an end.”
Hochstein met with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, the interlocutor with Hezbollah, and Prime Minister Najib Mikati in Beirut on Tuesday. Hochstein also said a deal is “within our grasp” but added it is ultimately “the decision of the parties.”
The proposal would include a 60-day transition period in which the Israeli military would withdraw from Lebanon and the Lebanese army would deploy to the area near the Israel-Lebanon border, while Hezbollah would move its heavy weapons north of the Litani River, according to Axios.
“We believe that we’re seeing progress, and we think both sides, both the Lebanese side and the Israeli side, have indicated a willingness to get this done and to get it done on a short time frame,” Jake Sullivan, President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, told PBS. “So, we will continue working at this until we can get both sides to sign on the proverbial dotted line.”
One possible hiccup is Israeli leaders’ demand that they retain the right to carry out future attacks on Hezbollah if the group violates the terms of the ceasefire.
Israel and Hezbollah have been fighting for more than a year, though the war escalated earlier this fall. The conflict began when Hezbollah started firing projectiles into northern Israel in the aftermath of Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack, the worst in Israel’s history. Israel evacuated more than 50,000 people from the northern part of the country who remain displaced, effectively depopulating the area.
Hezbollah and Israel exchanged cross-border fires for several months while Israeli forces were simultaneously carrying out a ground invasion of Gaza targeting Hamas. Israel escalated its conflict with Hezbollah in early September with several large-scale attacks, the targeting of the U.S.-designated terrorists’ senior leaders, and limited cross-border operations.
Most of Hezbollah’s senior leaders have been killed by Israeli forces, though the war has continued due to Hezbollah’s ability to respond. Hezbollah has a larger fighting force than Hamas and had a better arsenal, but both have been badly hit by Israel.
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Israel and Hezbollah last went to war in 2005, and the conflict ended with the United Nations Security Council passing Resolution 1701. The specifics of the resolution have never fully been implemented. It called for Israeli forces to withdraw from southern Lebanon, which they did, but it also called for Hezbollah to move its positions in southern Lebanon further north to create a buffer area between them and the border. Hezbollah never left those positions to move north of the Litani River.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that they “won’t allow Hezbollah to go back to where it was on Oct. 6.”