Israel sees progress in Lebanon ceasefire talks, says Russia can help

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By James Mackenzie and Riham Alkousaa

JERUSALEM/BEIRUT (Reuters) -Israel said on Monday there was progress in talks about a Lebanon ceasefire and indicated Russia could play a part by stopping Hezbollah rearming via Syria, although the Iran-backed group said it had not received any new truce proposals.

Pummelled by Israel’s offensive, Hezbollah said political contacts were under way involving its backers in Tehran, Washington and Moscow, while also saying it had enough weapons for a “long war” and keeping up rocket fire into Israel.

Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Saar, said its war against Hezbollah was not yet over. The main challenge facing any ceasefire deal would be enforcement, he said, though there was “a certain progress” in talks.

After previous rounds of fruitless, U.S.-led diplomacy to secure a Lebanon truce, the comments indicate renewed focus as President Joe Biden prepares to leave office in January, with Donald Trump elected to replace him.

Hopes of a Gaza truce have meanwhile suffered a setback, with Qatar suspending its mediation role.

Ignited by the Gaza war, the conflict at the Lebanese-Israeli border had been rumbling for a year before Israel went on the offensive in September, pounding wide areas of Lebanon with airstrikes and sending troops into the south.

Saar, addressing a Jerusalem press conference, said Israel was working with the United States on a ceasefire. Israel wants Hezbollah to withdraw north of the Litani River – some 20 miles (30 km) from the border – and to be unable to rearm, he said.

Saar said a basic principle for any agreement had to be that Hezbollah would not be able to bring in weapons from Syria.

“And the Russians are, as you know, present in Syria. And if they are in agreement with this principle, I think they can contribute effectively to this objective.”

ISRAEL STICKS TO ITS WAR GOALS IN LEBANON

Israel’s new defence minister, Israel Katz, meeting for the first time with his general staff, said there would be no ceasefire in Lebanon until Israel achieves its goals.

“Israel will not agree to any arrangement that does not guarantee Israel’s right to enforce and prevent terrorism on its own, and meet the goals of the war in Lebanon – disarming Hezbollah and its withdrawal beyond the Litani River and returning the residents of the north safely to their homes.”

Russia deployed forces into Syria nearly a decade ago to support President Bashar al-Assad in the civil war there. Hezbollah also sent fighters to help Assad, and carved out influence alongside other Iran-backed groups.

Syria is widely seen as a major conduit for Iran to supply weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Israel has struck targets in Syria regularly during the conflict.

An Israeli airstrike temporarily cut Syria’s main Homs-Damascus highway on Monday, Syrian media reported.

In Lebanon, relatives held funerals for 20 people killed in a strike on the town of Deir Qanoun-Ras al-Ain, including seven medics from rescue groups affiliated with Hezbollah and its Shi’ite ally Amal.

At least 14 people were killed and 15 others injured in an Israeli airstrike on the northern Lebanese town of Ain Yaaqoub on Monday, according to the town’s mayor.

The town was the northernmost point in Lebanon hit by Israeli forces since hostilities began in October 2023. Israel hit a building where 30 people were residing, including Syrian refugees, Mayor Majed Drbes said, adding that some people were still trapped under the rubble.

The Israeli military said more than 150 rockets had been fired from Lebanon into Israel. Some set fire to parked cars and a building in a Haifa suburb. Three people suffered moderate and light wounds, the national ambulance service said.

CONTACTS WITH U.S. GROW AS TRUMP PREPARES TO TAKE OFFICE

In Beirut, Hezbollah official Mohammad Afif linked intensified political contacts to the looming change of U.S. leadership. “There is a great movement between Washington and Moscow and Tehran and a number of capitals,” he said.

“We hear a lot of talk, but so far, according to my information, nothing official has reached Lebanon or us in this regard,” he told a press conference. The contacts were “in the phase of testing the waters and presenting initial ideas”.

Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer was due to meet U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken later on Monday in Washington, the State Department said.

Yedioth Ahronoth, Israel’s best-selling newspaper, reported on Monday that Israel and Lebanon had exchanged drafts through U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein, signalling progress in efforts to reach a final agreement.

The Lebanese government, which includes Hezbollah, has repeatedly called for a ceasefire based on the full implementation of a U.N. Resolution that ended a war between the group and Israel in 2006.

The resolution calls for the area south of the Litani to be free of all weapons other than those of the Lebanese state. Lebanon and Israel have accused each other of violating the resolution.

Israel’s offensive has driven more than 1 million people from their homes in Lebanon in the last seven weeks. Since hostilities erupted a year ago, Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed 3,243 people and injured 14,134, the Lebanese health ministry said. Its figures do not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

Hezbollah attacks have killed roughly 100 civilians and soldiers in northern Israel, the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, and southern Lebanon over the last year.

(Reporting by James Mackenzie and Ari Rabinovitch in Jerusalem, Laila Bassam, Riham Alkousaa and Maya Gebeily in Beirut; Writing by Tom Perry and Sharon Singleton; Editing by William Maclean and Kevin Liffey)