CNN
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The United States is working urgently on a plan to mediate a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, according to three sources familiar with the matter, as officials eye with deepening concern the prospects of a widening conflict.
American officials are working with officials from France and other nations to try and reach a diplomatic agreement that would pause fighting along Israel’s northern border while also resuming ceasefire and hostage talks for Gaza, the people said.
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.
Amos Hochstein, a senior White House adviser, is involved, the source said, adding that the Americans are not talking to Hezbollah directly.
American officials declined to provide specifics on the proposed plans, but the matter is under intensive discussion among diplomats in New York for this week’s United Nations General Assembly meetings. It is unclear how much progress had been made toward striking an agreement.
On Monday night, a US official told CNN that the administration was extremely close to finalizing a plan to deescalate tensions between Israel and Hezbollah and Hamas, but that officials were trying to keep the negotiations as private as possible to avoid upending the fragile talks involving multiple countries.
The plans could be a focus of conversation at an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council scheduled for later Wednesday that France called for.
Speaking on ABC’s daytime talk show “The View,” President Joe 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.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in interviews Wednesday the US is working toward a plan that would allow displaced Israeli and Lebanese citizens to return to their homes.
“It would be through a diplomatic agreement that has forces pulled back from the border, create a secure environment, people return home. That’s what we’re driving toward. Because while there’s a very legitimate issue here, we don’t think that war is the solution,” he told NBC News.
