Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati expressed hope that a ceasefire aimed at ending the Israeli attack on Lebanon could be announced within days, as Israeli media published this which they presented as a draft truce agreement providing for an initial cessation of fighting for 60 days.
Mikati said he had become more optimistic about the possibility of a truce after speaking Wednesday with U.S. Middle East envoy Amos Hochstein, who was scheduled to visit Israel on Thursday.
“Hochstein, in his call with me, suggested to me that we could reach an agreement before the end of the month and before November 5,” Mikati told Lebanese television Al Jadeed, referring to the date of the elections American.
“We are doing everything we can and we have to remain optimistic and think that in the coming hours or days we will get a ceasefire,” Mikati said, adding that he was “cautiously optimistic.”
Israeli public broadcaster Kan published what it called a leak of a proposal written by Washington that Israel would withdraw its forces from Lebanon during the first week of a proposed 60-day ceasefire .
The Reuters news agency obtained similar details about the proposal from two sources familiar with the matter.
Asked to comment on the leak, White House national security spokesman Sean Savett said: “There are many reports and plans circulating. They do not reflect the current state of negotiations.
Kan said the project had been presented to Israeli leaders. Israeli officials had no immediate comment.
Tel Aviv Tribune’s Charles Stratford, reporting from Beirut, said Mikati’s announcement about the possibility of a truce also came with reservations.
“He said a ceasefire must be accompanied by American guarantees. But what that means remains to be seen. And he said that the Lebanese army will also need additional equipment, weapons and additional logistical equipment,” Stratford said.
Earlier Wednesday, Hezbollah’s new leader Naim Qassem said his fighters would only agree to a ceasefire if Israel ended its “aggression” and the proposal was considered “appropriate.”
“If the Israelis decide to end the aggression, we say we accept it, but on the terms we consider appropriate,” Qassem said, speaking from an undisclosed location in a pre-recorded televised speech.
“We will not ask for a ceasefire, because we will continue (the fighting)… no matter how long it takes,” he said.
Qassem replaced former longtime Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on a Beirut suburb in late September. He served as deputy secretary general of Hezbollah for more than three decades.
His speech came as the Lebanese Health Ministry announced that 30 people had been killed in Israeli attacks over the previous 24 hours and 165 others had been injured, bringing the total death toll in Lebanon over the past 24 hours. last year of conflict between Hezbollah and Israel to 2,822 killed and 12,937 injured.
Amid talk of a possible ceasefire, Israeli attacks on Lebanon also expanded on Wednesday with heavy airstrikes on the historic eastern city of Baalbek, famous for its Roman temples.
At least 19 people, including eight women, were killed in two towns in Lebanon’s Baalbek region and tens of thousands of people – many seeking refuge in Baalbek from other areas – were forced to flee Israeli bombardment .
Bilal Raad, regional head of Lebanon’s civil defense, said the scene was chaotic in the Baalbek region.
“The whole city is panicked and doesn’t know where to go, there is a huge traffic jam,” he said before the Israeli bombardment.
