BEIRUT: US mediators are working on a proposal to wind down hostilities between Lebanese group Hezbollah and Israel’s military, beginning with a 60-day truce, Reuters news agency reported on Wednesday.
Reuters cited sources as saying that a person briefed on the talks and a top diplomat working on Lebanon — stated that the two-month period would be utilized to finalize complete implementation of UNSC Resolution 1701, approved in 2006 to keep southern Lebanon free of weapons that do not belong to the state of Lebanon.
However, the US Embassy in Lebanon did not immediately issue any statement over the matter, Reuters reported.
Reuters news agency reported that US presidential envoy Amos Hochstein, who is working on the new proposal, told media person in Beirut earlier this month that better mechanisms for enforcement were required as neither Lebanon nor Israel had completely executed the resolution.
Reuters news agency cited the senior diplomat as saying that the 60-day ceasefire has also replaced a proposal last month by the US and other nations that envisioned a truce for 21 days as a prelude to 1701 coming into force.
Earlier, Israeli air strikes on Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley overnight killed over 60 people across a dozen towns, the district governor stated on Tuesday, the deadliest day yet in the area in more than a year of conflict.
Reuters reported that rescue workers were still searching bodies out of the debris on Tuesday morning. Israel has ramped up its attacks across Lebanon over the last month, claiming it is targeting Lebanese group Hezbollah.
Lebanese authorities, rights groups and locals of affected areas say that the attacks are indiscriminate. Local media reported that no evacuation orders were given for any of the areas struck overnight.
