Lebanon’s prime minister asks Iran to help ensure a ceasefire

By BASSEM MROUE and DAVID RISING, Associated Press

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s interim prime minister on Friday asked Iran to help secure a ceasefire in war between Israel and Hezbollah and apparently prompted him to persuade the militant group to agree to a deal that could require it to withdraw from the Israeli-Lebanese border.

When a top adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, visited Lebanon for talks, Lebanese officials said a U.S. proposal for a cease-fire deal had been handed to Hezbollah to end a 13-month firefight between Israel and the group.

Iran is the main sponsor of Hezbollah and has been funding and arming the Lebanese militant group for decades. Hezbollah launched a rocket attack on northern Israel the day after a surprise attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7, 2023, sparking a war in the Gaza Strip – since then the two sides have been at loggerheads. The United States, Canada and the European Union have recognized Hamas as a terrorist organization.

Since the end of September, Israel has dramatically increased its bombing of Lebanon, vowing to destroy Hezbollah and end its shelling of Israel. More than 3,300 people were killed in Lebanon as a result of Israeli shelling – 80% of them in the last month – reports the Ministry of Health of Lebanon.

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A bomb dropped from an Israeli plane hits a building in Tayyoun, Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, November 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

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According to Lebanese media, US Ambassador Lisa Johnson handed over a draft of the proposed cease-fire agreement to Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berry, who was leading the negotiations on behalf of Hezbollah.

A Lebanese official confirmed that Beirut had received a copy of the draft proposal based on UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the last war between Israel and Hezbollah in the summer of 2006. The Lebanese politician said that Hezbollah representatives have received the project and are studying it and will give their opinion on it to Berry. The politician with knowledge of Hezbollah’s work and the official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media about ongoing negotiations.

UN Resolution 1701, among other things, states that only the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers should operate in southern Lebanon, meaning Hezbollah should end its presence there. This provision was never implemented. Lebanon accuses Israel of also violating the resolution by holding a small disputed border area and conducting frequent military flights over Lebanon.

The Lebanese official did not provide details, other than that Israel is pushing for some safeguards to be included. The US Embassy refused to confirm or deny the information.

During the talks with Khamenei’s adviser Ali Larijani, interim Prime Minister of Lebanon Najib Mikati called on Iran to help implement resolution 1701. He said the Lebanese government wants the war to end and the resolution implemented “in all its details,” according to a statement on the talks released by his office.

Mikati, who has become more critical of Iran’s role in Lebanon in recent weeks, also said the government wants Iran to help Lebanon’s national unity and not take any position that favors one party against another.

Iran’s support for Hezbollah has helped the group, which is the most powerful faction among Lebanon’s Shiite Muslims, dominate the country’s politics for the past decade.

After meeting with Mikati and Berry, Larijani said the main purpose of his visit was to “say loudly that we will support the government and the people of Lebanon.”

Asked if he was trying to obstruct the U.S. mediation of the ceasefire, Larijani said: “We are not trying to undermine any effort, but we want to solve the problem and we will support Lebanon, whatever the circumstances.”

On Friday, Israeli forces launched new strikes around the capital of Lebanon. Three waves of airstrikes hit buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs, causing explosions in an area known as Dahiyeh.

In a previous strike on the southeastern outskirts of Beirut, photos taken by an Associated Press photographer captured a missile about to hit an 11-story apartment building in the Tayoune district, then showed a burst of flames erupting from the side of the building. Much of the lower level of the building was reduced to rubble.

There were no reports of casualties during any of the strikes. In each case, the Israeli military issued warnings before the attack, indicating that it was aimed at Hezbollah targets.

Near the eastern Lebanese town of Baalbek, rescue teams continued to search through the rubble on Friday at the site of an Israeli strike that hit a civil defense center in the town of Douris the previous evening.

So far, the bodies of 14 Lebanese Civil Defense personnel and volunteers have been recovered, along with some other remains that will require DNA testing.

Israel has expanded its operations in Lebanon even as it continues its campaign in the Gaza Strip, vowing to destroy Hamas, which is also backed by Iran.

Funerals were held on Friday for 11 Palestinians killed on Thursday in a series of Israeli airstrikes in and around the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah. Among the dead are two children, whom the AP reporter saw with the other dead.

On Thursday, the 10 elected members of the UN Security Council circulated a draft resolution demanding an “immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire” in Gaza. The US, Israel’s closest ally, holds the key to the UN Security Council passing the resolution. The four other permanent members — Russia, China, Britain and France — are expected to support or abstain.

The Israel-Hamas war started after the Palestinian terrorists invaded Israel On October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and kidnapping 250 others.

Israeli bombing and ground offensives since then have killed more than 43,000 people in Gaza, Palestinian health officials say. Officials did not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but said more than half of the dead were women and children.

Growth is reported from Bangkok. Abby Sewell in Beirut and Edith M. Lederer at the UN contributed to this report.

Originally published: November 15, 2024 at 8:55 AM PST