Lebanon, Israel could agree to ceasefire within days: PM

JERUSALEM/BEIRUT: Lebanon’s prime minister expressed hope on Wednesday that a ceasefire deal with Israel would be announced within days as Israel’s public broadcaster published what it said was a draft agreement providing for an initial 60-day truce, Reuters news agency reported.

The document, which broadcaster Kan said was a leaked proposal written by Washington, said Israel would withdraw its forces from Lebanon within the first week of the 60-day ceasefire. It largely aligned with details reported earlier by Reuters based on two sources familiar with the matter.

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said he had not believed a deal would be possible until after Tuesday’s U.S. presidential election. But he said he became more optimistic after speaking on Wednesday with U.S. envoy for the Middle East Amos Hochstein, who was due to travel to Israel on Thursday.

“Hochstein, during his call with me, suggested to me that we could reach an agreement before the end of the month and before Nov. 5th,” Mikati told Lebanon’s Al Jadeed television.

“We are doing everything we can and we should remain optimistic that in the coming hours or days, we will have a ceasefire,” Mikati said.

The draft published by Kan was dated Saturday. When asked to comment, White House national security spokesperson Sean Savett said: “There are many reports and drafts circulating. They do not reflect the current state of negotiations.”

But Savett did not respond to a query on whether the version published by Kan was at least the basis for further negotiations.

The Israeli network said the draft had been presented to Israel’s leaders. Israeli officials did not immediately comment.

Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah have been fighting for the past year in parallel with Israel’s war in Gaza after Hezbollah struck Israeli targets in solidarity with its ally Hamas in Gaza.

The conflict in Lebanon has dramatically escalated over the last five weeks, with most of the 2,800 deaths reported by the Lebanese health ministry for the past 12 months occurring in that period.