The leader of the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah, Hasan Nasrallah, agreed to a 21-day ceasefire before being assassinated by Israel, and Lebanon informed the United States and France of the decision, which presented the truce proposal, according to the Lebanese report. Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdallah Bou Habib.
In an interview with the American channel CNN broadcast this morning, the head of Lebanese diplomacy said, when asked if Nasrallah accepted the temporary truce: “He (Nasrallah) accepted, he accepted,” replied Habib.
“We were in complete agreement. Lebanon agreed to a ceasefire, but in consultation with Hezbollah. The speaker (of the Lebanese Parliament), Nabih Berri, consulted with Hezbollah and we informed the Americans and the French of what had happened. And they told us that Mr. (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu also agreed with the statement issued by the two presidents (Joe Biden and Emmanuel Macron),” he said.
The temporary ceasefire was introduced by US President Joe Biden, his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron and other allies at the UN General Assembly last week.
Even after the Lebanese government communicated to the two countries, White House senior advisor Amos Hochstein was preparing to travel to Lebanon to negotiate the ceasefire during the three-week temporary truce, Habib continued.
“We were told that Mr. Netanyahu agreed to this, then we also got agreement from Hezbollah and you know what happened since then,” the minister said.
For the moment, neither Israel nor Hezbollah have commented on this information.
Nasrallah was killed last Friday in an Israeli airstrike in the southern Beirut suburb known as Dahye, part of an unprecedented Israeli bombing campaign that has killed nearly 2,000 people and displaced 1 .2 million people. Two days ago, Israel launched a ground invasion into southern Lebanon.
