The United States and several of its allies called Wednesday for a 21-day ceasefire across the Israel-Lebanon border as they work to prevent a regional war from erupting and to jolt stalled hostage talks between Israel and Hamas.
The proposal, described by one senior US official as an “important breakthrough,” comes amid deadly fighting between Israel and Hezbollah that many fear could spill into a wider conflict.
Hoping to prevent such an outcome, diplomats and leaders gathered in New York for the United Nations General Assembly spent the last 48 hours hurriedly working to secure a plan that would pause the fighting and allow room for diplomacy to take hold, reports CNN.
Israel and Hezbollah have yet to agree. But US officials said both parties were “familiar” with the contours of the proposal and voiced optimism the moment was right for it to be revealed publicly.
“The situation between Lebanon and Israel since October 8th, 2023 is intolerable and presents an unacceptable risk of a broader regional escalation. This is in nobody’s interest, neither of the people of Israel nor of the people of Lebanon,” read a joint statement from the nations released late Wednesday.
President Joe Biden said the plan had been endorsed by the United States, Australia, Canada, European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
“We were able to generate significant support from Europe, as well as the Arab nations,” Biden told reporters late Wednesday. “It’s important this war not widen.”
The immediate objective of the agreement is to lower temperatures and allow residents along the border to return to their homes in Israel and Lebanon.
But officials also hope the ceasefire being proposed could “open up diplomatic space” and “galvanize” a stalled ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas to halt the fighting and free the Israeli hostages being held in Gaza, senior administration officials asserted in the moments after the framework was announced.
Plan is the result of ‘an all-out effort’
The plan was announced after what one Biden administration official called “an all-out effort by the administration” to secure a cessation in hostilities as the conflict threatens to widen into a larger regional war.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken spent the past few days shuttling back and forth between Arab and European partners working on the details of a proposal to stop the fighting between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah.
Biden has been discussing the escalating hostilities in the Middle East with various world leaders this week on the sidelines of the General Assembly. On Wednesday, he discussed the matter with Macron, the White House said, helping to finalize the plan.
Blinken led intensive behind-the-scenes diplomacy on the sidelines of the UN gathering to help broker the ceasefire proposal, a US official said. On Monday, he soft-launched the idea to his G7 counterparts, though didn’t share specific details.
The ceasefire proposal was negotiated with both sides before it was rolled out publicly, according to a senior administration official. On Wednesday, Blinken and White House senior adviser Amos Hochstein met with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, one of the mediators conveying details to Hezbollah. The US had been conveying messages to Hezbollah through mediators for several days.
On the margins of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) meeting on Wednesday morning, Blinken separately pulled aside both Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani and Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan to ask for the countries’ support for the proposal, which they both gave.
Blinken dispatched his deputy chief of staff, Tom Sullivan, on Wednesday morning to meet with the political directors of France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom to get their support for the framework.
US officials were optimistic Wednesday night that both sides will accept the deal, but some diplomats told CNN that they are concerned about both sides respecting their commitment to the ceasefire.
Hope to kickstart Gaza talks
After months of painstaking and so far unsuccessful negotiations to end the war in Gaza and free remaining hostages, officials said they believed this latest proposal could shake loose the moribund talks.
“It buys some time and space to try to pursue an arrangement in Gaza…and the hostage deal we’ve been discussing,” one of the officials said. “And if (Hamas leader Yahya) Sinwar understands there is not going to be a broader regional conflict, there really is a choice here. You do the deal, release the hostages, you get an awful lot of calm in Gaza.”
Earlier Wednesday night, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told the United Nations Security Council that France has been working with the US to secure a 21-day ceasefire to allow negotiations and that details would be made public soon. “A diplomatic solution is indeed possible,” he said, adding that he would travel to Beirut at the end of the week to work with local stakeholders.
A source said that the effort to mediate a ceasefire began in earnest for the Biden administration after Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, spoke on the phone with top Israeli official Ron Dermer on Monday.
The efforts come as Israel’s top general said Wednesday that the Israeli military is preparing for a possible ground incursion into Lebanon.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has given the green light for his government to engage with the US efforts, an Israeli official told CNN.
The official said that Netanyahu gave his approval with the understanding that any agreement would have to allow for the return of Israeli civilians to their homes in northern Israel.
Hezbollah has long said they would only stop their rocket fire when there was quiet in Gaza, while Israel has tried to treat the two fronts as separate conflicts. The White House has also consistently argued that a ceasefire in Gaza would unlock much more, including a diplomatic deal with Hezbollah that would allow Lebanese and Israeli civilians to return home.
Given the fear of escalation, American and other international officials are pushing for a deal first to end the skyrocketing Lebanon fighting so that they can then turn back to the Gaza ceasefire efforts that have been stuck.
Biden and his top national security officials have regularly expressed optimism and hope that deals for both were close at hand, only to see them fall apart. Recently, US officials have said they don’t know whether Netanyahu or Sinwar have the political willingness to agree to a ceasefire in Gaza.
Speaking on ABC’s daytime talk show “The View,” Biden alluded to ongoing talks to reach a ceasefire in Lebanon that would unlock further peace discussions elsewhere in the region.
“There’s a way to do it, and they have a possibility - I don’t want to exaggerate it, but a possibility - if we can deal with a ceasefire in Lebanon, that it can move into dealing with the West Bank, but we also have Gaza to deal with,” he said.
“But it’s possible,” he said, “and I’m using every bit of energy I have with my team … to get this done. There’s a desire to see change in the region.”