By Timour Azhari and Laila Bassam
BEIRUT (Reuters) -A U.S. official asked Lebanon to declare a unilateral ceasefire with Israel to revive stalled talks to end Israeli-Hezbollah hostilities, a senior Lebanese political source and a senior diplomat said – a claim denied by both sides.
The sources said the request was made by U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein to Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati this week, as the U.S. stepped up diplomacy in search of a ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
In a statement to Reuters, Mikati’s office denied the U.S. had asked Lebanon to declare a unilateral truce. It said the government’s stance was clear on seeking a mutual ceasefire and implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the last round of conflict between the two foes in 2006.
A U.S. official also denied such a proposal had been made. “The U.S. is working with both parties to achieve an enduring ceasefire. Senior (White House) officials visited both Lebanon and Israel in the last several days to advance this effort,” the official said.
The sources said the U.S. sought to persuade Beirut to take back some initiative in the talks, particularly given the perception that Israel will likely continue military operations that have already killed most of Hezbollah’s leadership and laid waste to swathes of Lebanon’s south.
Lebanon’s armed forces are not involved in the hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, which began firing rockets at Israel a year ago in solidarity with its Palestinian ally Hamas in Gaza.
Any effort to reach a ceasefire would need a green light from Hezbollah, which has ministers in Lebanon’s cabinet and whose members and allies hold a significant number of seats in parliament.
Diplomats mediate with Hezbollah through the group’s ally, Lebanese speaker of parliament Nabih Berri. Hezbollah has said it supports efforts by Berri to reach a ceasefire but that it must meet certain unspecified parameters.
But the sources acknowledged that a unilateral declaration would probably be seen as a non-starter in Lebanon, where it would likely be equated with surrender to Israel.
DIPLOMATIC INITIATIVE
Another diplomat told Reuters that Hochstein had made a similar proposal months ago to Mikati and Berri.
Hochstein told them, according to the diplomat, that if Hezbollah unilaterally declared a ceasefire, he “could have something to present” to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a diplomatic initiative.
“His exact words were, ‘help me, help you,” the diplomat said, adding that then-Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah rejected the idea. Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli air attack on Sept. 27 on Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Despite its losses, Hezbollah has maintained that its chain of command is intact and its fighters have kept at bay Israeli forces making ground incursions into Lebanon.
Israel says it is undertaking limited ground operations to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure and degrade the group’s fighting capacities.
The U.S. has been pushing for a 60-day ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel as a prelude to a fuller implementation of U.N. Resolution 1701, sources told Reuters this week.
Hochstein was in Israel on Thursday with White House envoy Brett McGurk, but they did not continue on to Lebanon.
Speaking about Lebanon on Thursday, Netanyahu said that “agreements, documents, proposals….are not the main point.”
He added: “The main point is our ability and determination to enforce security, thwart attacks against us, and act against the arming of our enemies, as necessary and despite any pressure and constraints. This is the main point.”
(Reporting by Timour Azhari and Laila Bassam; additional reporting by Maya Gebeily; editing by Alison Williams, Sharon Singleton and Mark Heinrich)
