Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, right, meets with Ali Larijani, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei, in Beirut, Friday, Nov. 15, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Friday (November 15, 2024) asked Iran to help secure a cease-fire in the war between Israel and Hezbollah and appeared to urge it to convince the militant group to agree to a deal that could require it to pull back from the Israel-Lebanon border.

As a top adviser to Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei visited Lebanon for talks, Lebanese officials said an American proposal for a cease-fire deal had been passed on to Hezbollah, aiming to end 13 months of exchanges of fire between Israel and the group.

Iran is a main backer of Hezbollah and for decades has been funding and arming the Lebanese militant group. Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel the day after Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, ignited the war in Gaza – prompting exchanges between the two sides ever since.

Since late September, Israel dramatically escalated its bombardment of Lebanon, vowing to cripple Hezbollah and end its barrages in Israel. More than 3,300 people have been killed in Lebanon by Israeli fire – 80% of them in the past month — Lebanon’s Health Ministry says.

According to Lebanese media, U.S. Ambassador Lisa Johnson handed over a draft of a proposed cease-fire deal to Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who has been leading the talks representing Hezbollah.

A Lebanese official confirmed that Beirut has received a copy of a draft proposal based on U.N. Security Council resolution 1701, which ended the last Israel-Hezbollah war, in the summer of 2006. A Lebanese politician said Hezbollah officials had received the draft, were studying it and would express their opinion on it to Mr. Berri. The politician, who knows the work of Hezbollah, and the official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media about the ongoing talks.

U.N. resolution 1701, among other things, holds that only the Lebanese army and U.N. peacekeepers should operate in southern Lebanon, meaning Hezbollah would have to end its presence there. That provision was never implemented.

Lebanon accuses Israel of also violating the resolution by maintaining hold of a small, disputed border area and conducting frequent military overflights over Lebanon.

The Lebanese official did not give details other than to say Israel was insisting that some guarantees be included. The U.S. Embassy refused to either confirm or deny the reports.

Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, urged Iran to help implement resolution 1701 in talks with Khamenei’s adviser, Ali Larijani. According to a statement on the talks issued by his office, the Lebanese government wants the war to end and the resolution to be implemented “in all its details. “

Mr. Mikati, who has become more critical of Iran’s role in Lebanon in recent weeks, also said the government wants Iran to help Lebanon’s national unity and not take a stance backing one party against another.

Iran’s backing for Hezbollah has helped the group, which is the most powerful faction among Lebanon’s Shiite Muslims, dominate the country’s politics the last decade.

After meeting Mr. Mikati and Mr. Berri, Mr. Larijani said his visit’s main aim was “to loudly say that we will stand by Lebanon’s government and people.”

Asked if he was trying to thwart U.S. cease-fire mediation, Mr. Larijani said, “We are not trying to blow up any effort, but we want to solve the problem and we will stand by Lebanon, whatever the circumstances.”

Israeli forces carried out new strikes around the Lebanese capital on Friday (November 15, 2024). Three waves of air raids hit buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs, setting off explosions in the area known as Dahiyeh.

In an earlier strike on the southeastern edge of Beirut, images taken by an Associated Press photographer captured a rocket about to strike an 11-story residential building in the Tayouneh neighbourhood – then showed a blast of flame erupting from the side of the building. Much of a lower level of the building was smashed to rubble.

There were no immediate reports of casualties in any of the strikes. In each case, the Israeli military had issued a warning before the attack, saying it was targeting Hezbollah facilities.

Near the eastern Lebanese city of Baalbek, rescue teams continued searching through the rubble Friday at the site of an Israeli strike the night before that hit a civil defense center in the town of Douris.

So far, the bodies of 14 employees and volunteers with the Lebanese Civil Defense had been recovered, the agency said, as well as some other remains that will require DNA testing.

Israel expanded its operations in Lebanon even as it continues its campaign in the Gaza Strip, vowing to destroy Hamas, which is also backed by Iran.

Funerals were held Friday (November 15, 2024) for 11 Palestinians killed Thursday (November 14, 2024) in a series of Israeli airstrikes in and around the central Gaza Strip city of Deir al-Balah. Two children were among the dead, seen with the other dead by an AP reporter.

On Thursday (November 14, 2024), the U.N. Security Council’s 10 elected members circulated a draft resolution demanding “an immediate, unconditional and permanent cease-fire” in Gaza. The U.S., Israel’s closest ally, holds the key to whether the U.N. Security Council adopts the resolution. The four other permanent members — Russia, China, Britain and France — are expected to support it or abstain.

The Israel-Hamas war began after Palestinian militants stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and abducting 250 others.

Israel’s bombardment and ground offensives since then have killed more than 43,000 people in Gaza, Palestinian health officials say. The officials don’t distinguish between civilians and combatants but say more than half of those killed have been women and children.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi pose for the media during a bilateral signature agreements ceremony at the Presidential palace in Ankara, Wednesday, September 4, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

The presidents of Türkiye and Egypt on Wednesday (September 4, 2024) found common ground on the war in Gaza as they continued to mend long-strained relations, emphasising the need for a permanent cease-fire and guaranteed delivery of humanitarian aid.

Türkiye’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi spoke during the Egyptian leader’s first official visit to Ankara after years of tensions between the regional powers.

“Türkiye and Egypt have a common stance on the Palestinian issue,” Mr. Erdogan said after he and Mr. el-Sissi oversaw the signing of cooperation agreements. “The end of the genocide that has been going on for 11 months, the establishment of a permanent cease-fire as soon as possible, and the unhindered flow of humanitarian aid continue to be our priorities.”

In February, Mr. Erdogan made his first visit to Egypt in more than a decade after the countries agreed to repair ties and reappointed ambassadors. He said the countries wanted to boost bilateral trade to $15 billion in the coming years.

Relations between Egypt and Türkiye, a long-time backer of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood group, soured a decade ago after the Egyptian military ousted President Mohammed Morsi, who hailed from the Brotherhood, amid mass protests against his divisive rule. Egypt also outlawed the group as a terrorist organisation.

In recent years, Ankara has stopped its criticism of Mr. el-Sissi’s government, aiming to improve strained relations with Egypt and other Arab nations while seeking investments during an economic downturn. In November 2022, Mr. Erdogan and Mr. el-Sissi were photographed shaking hands at the World Cup in Qatar.

The Egyptian foreign minister then travelled to Türkiye in 2023 to show solidarity after a deadly earthquake struck parts of southern Türkiye and Syria.

This is Mr. el-Sissi’s first visit to Türkiye since he was elected president in 2014, a year after he led the military’s overthrow of Morsi.

“We should work together to prevent humanitarian crises, especially by addressing regional issues together,” Mr. el-Sissi said. “We should work more intensively, especially with our brothers in Gaza and Palestine. In this context, both Türkiye and Egypt emphasised that an urgent cease-fire should be established as soon as possible.”

Mr. Erdogan, a vocal critic of Israel’s military actions, accused Israel’s government of “condemning” the people of Gaza to hunger and thirst.

“Israel and its supporters are responsible for every innocent person who dies from hunger, thirst or lack of medicine,” he said.

He also told reporters that Türkiye wanted to cooperate with Egypt on natural gas and nuclear energy.

Mr. Erdogan welcomed Mr. el-Sissi at the steps of his airplane at the airport in Ankara, a gesture he rarely makes.

Mr. el-Sissi said on Facebook that his trip to Türkiye and Erdogan’s February visit to Cairo “mirror the joint will to start a new era of friendship and cooperation between Egypt and Türkiye.”

Egypt, together with Qatar and the United States, a key Israel ally, has been working for months to try and broker a cease-fire and the return of the remaining more than 100 hostages held by the Palestinian militant Hamas group. The negotiations have stalled following new Israeli demands.

Egypt opposes any Israeli presence along the Gaza side of its border, claiming it would threaten the decades-old peace treaty between the countries, a cornerstone of regional stability. Hamas had asked to have Türkiye added as a guarantor in the cease-fire talks, but the proposal was not accepted.

The war began with Hamas’ October 7 assault on Israel in which the militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took around 250 hostages. The overall Palestinian death toll in Gaza has now surpassed 40,000 people, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza.