Biden advisers in Egypt and Israel to push for Lebanon and Gaza ceasefires

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Senior US officials arrived in Israel and Egypt as they attempt to push forward efforts to reach ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon.

CIA chief William Burns met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi in Cairo and reviewed efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza and a hostages-for-prisoners swap deal between Israel and Hamas, according to a statement from Mr El Sisi's office.

US envoys Brett McGurk and Amos Hochstein arrived in Israel on Thursday, with Mr McGurk tasked with discussing a Gaza ceasefire. Mr Hochstein will focus on a Lebanon ceasefire, following reports of a draft agreement to end the fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed group Hezbollah.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Mr Hochstein and Mr McGurk during a meeting in Jerusalem that the most important part of a possible deal would be "Israel’s determination and ability to enforce the agreement and to foil any threat to its security from Lebanon," according to a statement released by his office.

The pair also met Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, a confidante of Mr Netanyahu, to discuss security in the north of Israel and the fate of Israeli hostages held in Gaza.

The visits are the latest diplomatic efforts over the past year by the US, alongside Egypt and Qatar, to get the warring parties to agree on an end to the fighting. Earlier this month US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made his 11th trip to the region in a year, and these may be the last high-level trips by Washington officials before the US election next week.

An end to the hostilities in Lebanon seems more likely than ending the war in Gaza, which was sparked by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that killed around 1,200 people and saw another 251 taken hostage to Gaza.

Hezbollah launched attacks from Lebanon on Israel a day later in support of Hamas, followed by nearly a year of tit-for-tat attacks before Israel launched a ground invasion into south Lebanon last month, drastically escalating the scale of violence and destruction. More than 43,100 people have been killed in Gaza and around 2,800 in Lebanon in the past year.

A purported US-drafted ceasefire proposal published by Kan, the Israeli public broadcaster, suggests an initial 60-day cessation of hostilities, allowing for the Lebanese army to deploy and replace Hezbollah south of the Litani River, up to around 30km from the border with Israel.

The Lebanese army would also be expected to seize a monopoly on weapons deployed in the area – implying that Hezbollah and its weapons arsenals move out. The number of Lebanese army soldiers would increase to 10,000 over the two-month period, the document dated October 26 said, while Israel would have seven days to remove its troops from southern Lebanon.

Israel, Lebanon, the US and unspecified other counties would resolve to develop and establish a Monitoring and Enforcement Mechanism for the purpose of “monitoring implementation of the cessation of hostilities and related commitments”, the document said.

The proposal essentially seeks to strengthen the steps outlined in UN Resolution 1701, which was adopted in 2006 with the aim of ending the war between Hezbollah and Israel, but has never been fully implemented.

Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati expressed hope that a ceasefire deal with Israel would be reached within days. It remains unclear how willing Lebanon and Israel are to accept the proposal, which contains a provision allowing for self-defence. Israel is likely to want more guarantees that it can respond in the event of Hezbollah or other militant groups in Lebanon breaking the ceasefire and firing across the border.

Israel and Lebanon have requested that, after the initial 60-day implementation period, the US, along with the UN and the international community, will facilitate indirect negotiations between the two countries, aiming to reach full implementation of UN resolution 1701 and resolving the outstanding disputed points on the Blue Line, the separation barrier between Israel and Lebanon.

For Gaza, two days of ceasefire talks in Doha on Sunday and Monday came to a close with no word from US, Egyptian and Qatari mediators on whether the latest proposals to end the year-long war in the Palestinian enclave have brought a deal any closer.

“Netanyahu needs to understand: there is no deal that returns all the hostages without ending the war. Hamas needs to understand: there is no end to the war as long as Hamas continues to rule Gaza,” said Israeli former hostage negotiator Gershon Baskin in a social media post on Tuesday.

“Qatar and Egypt must pressure Hamas to relinquish power in Gaza. It shouldn't be difficult because two members of the Hamas political bureau told me explicitly that Hamas is ready to transfer control of Gaza to a technocratic civilian body in which they will have no part.”

Additional reporting by Hamza Hendawi in Cairo