The US envoy to the Middle East, Amos Hochstein, said on Tuesday there is a real opportunity for a ceasefire deal between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah.
It comes as Israel continues air strikes deep into central Beirut and Hezbollah, Iran’s largest proxy, fires dozens of projectiles daily into Israel.
Speaking at a press conference in Beirut following talks with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, Hochstein said that the deal is now within reach."It is now within our grasp. As the window is now, I hope the coming days yield a resolute decision."
He made the remarks just one day day after the Lebanese government and Hezbollah, designated a terror group by the US and multiple other nations, agreed to a US ceasefire proposal, dependent upon revisions.
Hochstein added, ”I came back because we have a real opportunity to bring this conflict to an end... This is a moment of decision-making. I am here in Beirut to facilitate that decision but it's ultimately the decision of the parties to reach a conclusion to this conflict."
A senior Lebanese politician who stands against Hezbollah, who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons, told Iran International the situation looks likely to take time. "I feel that as the discussion goes further than the headline principles they start revealing different interpretations by the various parties which creates complications," he said.
It is also happening outside of the constitutional process which makes it complex from the side of the Lebanese government.
"This is practically a negotiation between Hezbollah and Israel with the Lebanese Speaker of Parliament being a mediator with Hochstein representing one of the parties and not the Lebanese state, which is practically not part of this discussion given that the discussion is taking place outside the constitutional process," he said.
"The fact is, the state was not involved in the war decision and did not engage in such a war. However, the state will have to guarantee the peace."
The deal could be a parting gift from the Biden administration before President-elect Donald Trump comes to office for his second term in January, allowing further peace treaties to be brokered by the next administration.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a former Israeli diplomat told Iran International, “This will be Trump’s way to get straight down to business. He will want to shore up peace with Saudi and Israel as he needs peace in order to start making money.”
In 2020, Trump brokered historic peace deals between Israel and Arab states including the United Arab Emirates in the Abraham Accords. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be eager to please Trump, the source said, as he too wants to add peace with Saudi, broadening the Abraham Accords, to his legacy.
Israel’s longest serving premier ordered a mission which saw around 1,500 Hezbollah operatives taken out of action in September when two days of pager and walkie-talkie explosions hit the group in the most debilitating operation since its founding.
Just days later, Israel assassinated the head of the group, Hassan Nasrallah, part of a stream of killings targeting Hezbollah’s top chain of command.
Another source in the Israeli government told Iran International that depending on the next stages of the process, Hochstein may make his next stop Israel.
Israel has been fighting against Iran-backed Hamas, designated a terror group by the US, the UK and EU, since the attacks of October 7 last year in which over 1,100 mostly civilians were killed and more than 250 people taken hostage.
On October 8, Hezbollah joined the war on Israel’s northern front and has since fired over 17,000 projectiles into the Jewish state as it battles Iran’s militias from multiple fronts. Iranian militias in Yemen, Syria, Iraq and the West Bank have also joined the campaign against Israel.
As scores of projectiles continued to be fired into Israel amid Israeli strikes in Lebanon, Hezbollah media, Al Mayadeen, quoted political commentator Radwan Aqil as saying, ”We are facing a diplomatic and political juncture led by Speaker Berri and Prime Minister Najib Mikati."
He said the Lebanese side “will not accept any concession that affects Lebanon's sovereignty," stressing that "there is a national consensus, even from the opposition, to refuse to allow the Israelis to violate Lebanese sovereignty."
Israel continues to push for a clause which secures the right to self-defence as the negotiations continue with 63,000 Israelis displaced amid the conflict which has since seen hundreds of thousands of Lebanese forced into shelters.
On Tuesday, while negotiations continued, Al Mayadeen journalist Ali Mortada warned on X: “I told you, Haifa is the future of Tel Aviv,” suggesting the barrage hitting Israel’s northern city will soon be reaching Tel Aviv in central Israel. “If you want to ceasefire we will, if you don’t, we won’t,” he said.