As Israel Defence Forces (IDF) threatens to launch a ground invasion in Lebanon after two days of airstrikes, France and the US have said that they have mooted a 21-day ceasefire across the Israel-Lebanon border.
Though no significant progress has been made so far, a senior US official has said that both Israel and Lebanon will "decide within hours" whether to accept the proposal.
The official told Reuters that the ceasefire would apply to the Israel-Lebanon "Blue Line," the demarcation line between Lebanon and Israel. He added that US President Joe Biden had been discussing ceasefire "in almost every conversation he had with world leaders" at the United Nations General Assembly this week. "Based on discussions with Israelis and Lebanese, the U.S. and its allies felt this was the right time for a call for a ceasefire," the official added.
Though the specifics of the proposal were not complete, Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan and senior advisers Brett McGurk and Amos Hochstein are engaged in discussions with Middle East allies in this regard. France's foreign minister Jean-Nol Barrot told the UN Security Council on Wednesday that the proposal would be released shortly. "We are counting on both parties to accept it without delay," he said.
The US official added that both countries will decide within hours whether to join the proposal but reports quoting an Israeli official said Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has already given the green light to pursue the deal.
While Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati welcomed the call for a ceasefire, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told reporters that his country supported Hezbollah and would not remain indifferent if the conflict in Lebanon spiralled.
A Lebanese official too claimed that a deal was not wishful thinking and hinted that the deal, if reached, would start with a four-week ceasefire.
The ceasefire call comes amid the statement by IDF chief Lt Gen Herzi Halevi that a ground invasion in Lebanon is in the offing. "You hear the jets overhead; we have been striking all day. This is both to prepare the ground for your possible entry and to continue degrading Hezbollah," Halevi said.
Though there is no other confirmation in this regard, the IDF has called up two reserve brigades to the Northern border.
"We keep striking and hitting them everywhere," Halevi told soldiers - in a statement quoted by the IDF. "The goal is very clear - to safely return the residents of the north. To achieve that, we are preparing the process of a manoeuvre, which means your military boots... will enter enemy territory."