INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The U.S., France and other allies jointly called Wednesday for an immediate 21-day cease-fire to allow for negotiations in the escalating
conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that has killed more than 600 people in Lebanon in recent days.The joint statement, negotiated on the
immediate reaction from the Israeli or Lebanese governments or Hezbollah but senior U.S
officials said all parties were aware of the call for a cease-fire
Earlier, representatives for Israel and Lebanon reiterated their support for a U.N
resolution that ended the 2006 war between Israel and the Iranian-backed militant group.The U.S
hopes the new deal could lead to longer-term stability along the border between Israel and Lebanon
Months of Israeli and Hezbollah exchanges of fire have driven tens of thousands of people from their homes, and escalated attacks over the
past week have rekindled fears of a broader war in the Middle East.The U.S
officials said Hezbollah would not be a signatory to the cease-fire but believed the Lebanese government would coordinate its acceptance
speaks at the General Assembly on Friday.While the deal applies only to the Israel-Lebanon border, the U.S
officials said they were looking to use a three-week pause in fighting to restart stalled negotiations for a cease-fire and hostage release
deal between Israel and Hamas, another Iranian-backed militant group, after nearly a year of war in Gaza.The nations calling for a halt to
the Israel-Hezbollah conflict are the United States, Australia, Canada, the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia,
by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan, meeting with world leaders in New York and lobbying other
countries to support the plan, according to U.S
officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic conversations.Blinken first raised the proposal with the
French foreign minister Monday and then broadened his outreach that evening at a dinner with the foreign ministers of all the Group of Seven
industrialized democracies.During a meeting Wednesday morning with Gulf Cooperation Council foreign ministers, Blinken approached Qatari
Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan to ask their approval and got it
Blinken and senior White House adviser Amos Hochstein then met with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who signed off on the
deal.Sullivan, Hochstein and senior adviser Brett McGurk were also in touch with Israeli officials about the proposal, one of the U.S
7 attack on Israel by Hamas launched the war in Gaza.The officials said the deal crystallized by late Wednesday afternoon during a
conversation on the sidelines of the U.N
only if it includes the return of Israeli civilians to their homes
Ambassador, Danny Danon, told journalists that Israel would like to see a cease-fire and the return of people to their homes near the
Never fully implemented, it called for a cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from
Lebanon to be replaced by Lebanese forces and U.N
between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.That war is approaching the one-year mark after Hamas attacked southern Israel on Oct
7, killing about 1,200 people and taking hostages
Israel responded with an offensive that has since killed more than 41,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials, who do not
government also raised the pressure with additional sanctions targeting more than a dozen ships and other entities it says were involved in
