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The United States and several of its allies called for a 21-day ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah on Wednesday. They are trying to prevent a regional war on the Israel-Lebanon border.
The countries’ statement read that an “immediate” ceasefire on the border would “provide space for diplomacy towards the conclusion of a diplomatic solution”.
“The situation between Lebanon and Israel as of October 8, 2023 is intolerable and presents an unacceptable risk of wider territorial expansion. This is for no one, neither the people of Israel nor the people of Lebanon,” said the United States, Australia, Canada, European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia. Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
Senior administration officials have said the proposed cease-fire would “open up diplomatic space” and “encourage” a stalled ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas to end the fighting and free Israeli hostages held in Gaza.
The plan was announced after a Biden administration official called it a “total effort by the administration” to end hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel.
Israel and Hezbollah have yet to sign the plan. But officials said both sides were “familiar” with the details of the proposal and believed the time was right for it to be revealed publicly.
The deal will allow border residents to return to their homes in Israel and Lebanon, the first official said on Wednesday.
That 21-day pause, the first official said, “is long enough to allow negotiations on a realistic basis to reach a complex agreement during that period.”
“There’s no real magic formula to it. It’s something we felt was sufficient to sustain it and something the parties could agree on,” they added.
After months of difficult and so far unsuccessful negotiations to end the war in Gaza and free the remaining hostages, officials hoped the latest proposal could shake up the deteriorating talks.
“It buys some time and space to try to pursue an arrangement in Gaza…and we are discussing the hostage agreement,” one of the officials said. “And if (Hamas leader Yahya) Shinwar understands that there is not going to be a wider regional conflict, there is actually a choice here. You make a deal, you release the hostages, and you get a terrible peace in Gaza.
“It is time to conclude a diplomatic solution so that civilians on both sides of the border can safely return to their homes,” the countries said in a statement. “However, diplomacy cannot win amid this escalation of conflict.”
“We call on all parties, including the governments of Israel and Lebanon, to immediately agree to a temporary cease-fire,” the statement read, a UN resolution calling for an end to hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.
“We are ready to fully support all diplomatic efforts to conclude an agreement between Lebanon and Israel within this period, building on the efforts of the past months to end this crisis completely,” the statement continued.
US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron issued separate statements saying it was “time to give diplomacy a chance to succeed and avoid further escalation at the border”.
“It is time for a solution that ensures the safety and security of citizens returning to their homes along the Israel-Lebanon border,” the US and French presidents said late Wednesday after emergency discussions on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. York.
“The shooting since October 7, and especially in the past two weeks, threatens a much wider conflict, and harms civilians,” the presidents wrote. “Therefore, we have worked together in recent days on a joint call for a temporary ceasefire to allow diplomacy to succeed and avoid further escalation along the border.”
Biden and Macron called for “broad approval and immediate support from the governments of Israel and Lebanon.”
CNN reported earlier Wednesday that the U.S. is working urgently on a plan to mediate a cease-fire, according to three sources familiar with the matter, with officials viewing the prospect of an escalating conflict with deep concern.
U.S. officials are working with counterparts in France and other countries to try to broker a diplomatic deal that would halt fighting on Israel’s northern border while ending the Gaza ceasefire and resuming hostage talks, the people said.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Parrot told the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday night that France was working with the United States to secure a 21-day ceasefire to allow for talks, with details to be made public soon. “A diplomatic solution is really possible,” he said, adding that he will travel to Beirut at the weekend to work with local stakeholders.
Efforts to mediate a cease-fire began in earnest for the Biden administration after President Joe Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan spoke by phone with top Israeli official Ron Termer on Monday, a source said.
Biden has been on the sidelines of the General Assembly this week discussing the escalating hostilities in the Middle East with various world leaders. On Wednesday, he discussed the matter with Macron, the White House said
The efforts come after Israel’s top general said on Wednesday that the Israeli military was preparing for a ground incursion into Lebanon.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has given his government the green light to engage in US efforts, an Israeli official told CNN.
The official said Netanyahu gave his approval with the understanding that any deal would allow Israeli citizens to return to their homes in northern Israel.
Amos Hochstein, a senior White House adviser, was involved, the source said, adding that the Americans had not spoken directly with Hezbollah.
The UN has been back and forth between Arab and European partners working on the details of a proposal to end the fighting between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has spent the past few days on the sidelines of the meeting, a senior State Department official said. .
On Monday night, a U.S. official told CNN that the administration was close to finalizing a plan to defuse tensions between Israel and Hezbollah and Hamas, but officials were trying to keep the talks as private as possible to avoid fragile talks involving several. Countries.
But officials say the focus now is derailing ceasefire efforts for Lebanon and Gaza. Hezbollah has long said it will only stop its rocket attacks if Gaza remains calm, while Israel considers the conflict separate. The White House has consistently argued that a ceasefire in Gaza would open up more, including a diplomatic deal with Hezbollah that would allow Lebanese and Israeli citizens to return home.
Fearing an escalation, U.S. and other international officials are pushing for an agreement first to end the spiraling Lebanon conflict.
Biden and his top national security officials continued to express hope and confidence that deals for both were close, only to see them fall apart. Recently, US officials have said they do not know whether Netanyahu or Hamas leader Yahya Shinwar have the political will for a cease-fire in Gaza.
One European diplomat expressed skepticism about the chances of the efforts succeeding, saying there was “no reason to be optimistic at the moment”. The diplomat added that current negotiations are moving forward, but “the situation is deteriorating and escalating by the hour”.
The UN will be held later on Wednesday. The plans are likely to be at the center of the conversation at an emergency meeting of the Security Council, which France has called.
On Wednesday, a separate U.N. At a Security Council meeting, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called for “an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah and the implementation of a political plan that allows Israeli and Lebanese citizens to return to their homes and live in peace and security.”
A British official insisted it was time to move beyond calls for “de-escalation” and instead call for an immediate cessation of hostilities. The official suggested that diplomatic efforts to broker a cease-fire in Gaza should be decoupled from efforts in Lebanon.
Speaking on ABC’s daytime talk show “The View,” Biden referred to ongoing negotiations to reach a ceasefire in Lebanon that could open up further peace talks elsewhere in the region.
“There is a way to do it, they have a chance – I don’t want to exaggerate it, but a chance – if we can manage a ceasefire in Lebanon, it can communicate with the West Bank, but we have to deal with Gaza,” he said.
“But it’s possible,” he said, “and I’m using every force I have with my team … to do this. There’s a desire to see change in the region.
Blinken said in interviews Wednesday that the United States is working toward a plan to allow displaced Israeli and Lebanese citizens to return to their homes.
“It will be through a diplomatic agreement where troops withdraw from the border, create a safe environment and people return home. That is what we are moving towards. Because we don’t think war is the solution when there’s a very legitimate issue here,” he told NBC News.
CNN’s Donald Judd contributed to this report.
This story has been updated with additional updates.
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