United States envoy Amos Hochstein spoke with Lebanese authorities in Beirut, this Monday (21), about the conditions for a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, after Israel attacked branches of a financial institution linked to the group throughout Lebanon.
Diplomacy has failed to cool Israel’s violent conflicts with the two most dangerous and heavily armed regional militias – Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip – which are dragging on for a second year.
Washington hopes there will be new momentum for peace in the Middle East after Israel last week killed Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader and architect of attacks on Israeli cities last year that provoked Israel’s attack on the Gaza Strip.
U.S. officials are trying to broker a truce in Lebanon, where Israel launched a ground campaign last month that killed most of the senior leadership of Hezbollah, an Iran-backed movement that says it is fighting Israel on behalf of the Palestinians.
Lebanon’s interim Prime Minister Najib Mikati said there was no alternative to UN Resolution 1701, but added that “new understandings” could be reached to implement it, according to a statement issued by his office on Monday.
Security Council Resolution 1701, adopted in 2006, mandates that a UN peacekeeping mission assist the Lebanese Army in keeping the southern border area with Israel free of weapons or armed personnel other than those from the Lebanese State.
The Israeli military said on Monday that its warplanes hit short-range missile launchers in southern Lebanon that were aimed at northern Israeli settlements. Fifteen launchers were hit, according to the military.
During the night, Israel attacked sites in Beirut, southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley, targeting branches of a banking system that, according to Israel, is run by Hezbollah to finance its operations. Hundreds of families fled homes near the targeted locations before the attacks, although there were no immediate reports of casualties.
“Attack, attack, attack with planes and drones, and we don’t know who the targets are and who will die every day,” said Micheline Jabbour, who works in a Beirut pastry shop.
The Israeli military said before the night attacks that it was targeting the Al-Qard Al-Hassan Association, an alternative to the Lebanese banking system that the US says is used by Hezbollah to manage its finances.
The association has more than 30 branches across Lebanon, including 15 in densely populated areas of central Beirut and its suburbs.
There was no immediate statement from the organization, Hezbollah or the Lebanese government.
US envoy Hochstein is expected to meet Mikati and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Monday. Berri told broadcaster Al-Arabiya over the weekend that Hochstein’s visit was “the last chance before the US elections” to reach a truce.
Berri has been active in efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Lebanon.
This content was originally published in US envoy negotiates ceasefire in Lebanon on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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