Middle East latest: US envoy arrives in Lebanon to meet with officials about possible cease-fire

By The Associated Press The Associated Press

A destroyed building hit on Monday evening by an Israeli airstrike is seen in central Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)[ASSOCIATED PRESS/Bilal Hussein]

A U.S. envoy has arrived in Beirut to meet with Lebanese officials about a possible cease-fire in the Israel-Hezbollah war.

Amos Hochstein, a senior advisor to United States President Joe Biden, arrived Tuesday, a day after Hezbollah reportedly gave a positive response to a U.S. draft proposal to end the war, which has been ongoing for more than 13 months.

The U.S. has been working on a proposal to end hostilities that would remove Israeli ground forces from Lebanon and push Hezbollah forces away from the Israeli border. More Lebanese troops and U.N. peacekeepers would be sent to the buffer zone in southern Lebanon as part of the deal.

Hochstein’s main meeting on Tuesday will be with Lebanon’s Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally who is mediating for the militants.

Hochstein’s arrival came hours after an Israeli strike in central Beirut killed five people and wounded others. It was the third Israeli strike in the heart of Beirut in two days.

Since late September, Israel has dramatically escalated its bombardment of Lebanon, vowing to severely weaken Hezbollah and end its rocket barrages into Israel.

Hezbollah began firing rockets, and drawing Israeli retaliation, on Oct. 8, 2023, a day after Hamas’ attack on southern Israel ignited the war in Gaza. Both groups are supported by Iran. The fighting has left more than 3,500 dead in Lebanon and almost 15,000 wounded, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. It also has displaced nearly 1.2 million, or a quarter of Lebanon’s population.

On the Israeli side, 87 soldiers and 50 civilians, including some foreign laborers who work in agriculture, have been killed by attacks involving rockets, drones and missiles.

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