Washington [USA], October 22: United States envoy Amos Hochstein says Washington is looking to end the war in Lebanon "as soon as possible", stressing that the US is seeking a lasting resolution to the crisis without providing many details about the diplomatic push.
After holding talks in Beirut on Monday with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, Hochstein suggested that ceasefire efforts are focused on the implementation of a United Nations Security Council resolution that ended the last war between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006.
Resolution 1701 called for the Lebanese armed forces and UN peacekeepers to be the only military presence between the border with Israel and the Litani River, about 30km (18 miles) to the north.
On Monday, Hochstein said Resolution 1701 would be the "basis" to end the war, but he underscored the need to enforce it, which would push Hezbollah fighters away from the Israeli border.
He said the US is working with Lebanon and Israel to find a "formula" that would end the conflict "once and for all" to usher in a "new era of prosperity". Hochstein added that additional steps must be taken to make sure that 1701 is enforced "fairly, accurately, transparently, so that everybody knows the path that we're on".
It is not clear whether Hezbollah would agree to withdraw its forces from border areas. The 2006 resolution, which ended hostilities between the Lebanese group and Israel, did not include a meaningful enforcement mechanism.
The peacekeeping UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) is mostly an observer mission tasked with supporting the Lebanese army. Its mandate allows it only to report military activity, not confront Hezbollah. And the ill-equipped Lebanese army, which deployed across southern Lebanon after the 2006 war, historically does not take on Hezbollah, a group that is represented in the government in Beirut.
Source: Qatar Tribune