US ceasefire proposal under study in Lebanon
Lebanon is studying a US ceasefire proposal, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported on Friday afternoon. Without revealing details, a senior Lebanese official quoted by AFP indicated that the US ambassador in Beirut, Lisa Johnson, had presented a thirteen-point plan to Prime Minister Najib Mikati and the head of Parliament, Nabih Berri. “It’s kind of an American proposal. Mr. Berri requested a three-day delay.”this official said, on condition of anonymity. He stressed that Israel had not yet given a response.
If an agreement is reached, it will be announced in a joint Franco-American press release, this senior official added. “There will be a sixty-day ceasefire and Lebanon will begin to deploy its army on the border”. A US State Department spokesperson told AFP he could not “comment on current private negotiations”.
The initiative is the result of conversations between Berri and US envoy Amos Hochstein. They managed to “an agreement for a roadmap towards a ceasefire and the implementation of resolution 1701”he stressed. UN Resolution 1701 brought an end to the previous war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006. It stipulates that only the Lebanese army and UNIFIL peacekeepers are deployed on Lebanon’s southern border, bordering northern Lebanon with Israel, withdrawing Hezbollah fighters to areas. further north, but also that of Israeli soldiers from Lebanese territory. Since 2006, this resolution has allowed, despite the clashes, to maintain a precarious calm.
