Details of Hochstein's plan for a ceasefire and the taking stand of Lebanese officials against it

The American envoy in Lebanon presented a plan to the Lebanon's officials which was more like the complete surrender of Lebanon and placing it at the disposal of multinational forces.

News ID: 85195

Date: 22 October 2024 - 10:42

TEHRAN (Defapress) - The Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, quoting Arab diplomatic sources, announced that  Amos Hochstein, the US envoy to Lebanon, had intensive contacts with the Israeli parties before leaving for Beirut and assured them that he wanted to present an agreement to Lebanon that hasn't ignored Tel Aviv's conditions.

These sources state that Hochstein formed a diplomatic work team for himself, but failed to express Israel's demands in a way that would be acceptable to the Lebanese. Before he visited Lebanon, he tried to convey a threatening message to several officials of this country through Lisa Johnson, the American ambassador in Beirut, that they are not in a position to have a lot of controversy regarding his plan and not accepting the plan means the continuation of the war and difficulting the situation.

Amos Hochstein met with several diplomats and security elements at the American embassy and said that he would not discuss the issue of the Lebanese presidency and would not mention the name of the current army commander as the main candidate for the presidency, but in his talks with Nabih Berri and Najib Mikati, the presidents of the parliament and the government, completely ignored this issue.

According to the aforementioned sources, Hochstein's plan for peace in the border area with the Zionist regime is based on the absence of armed elements in the Lebanese areas close to the borders. He demanded to expand the geographical framework of the presence of multinational forces to a few kilometers after the Litani River and said that the number of multinational forces as well as some elements of the Lebanese army in this area should be increased.

This plan also calls for increasing the powers of multinational forces and the right to search cars and various positions and to conduct sudden patrols in the region and said that there should be no need to issue a license from the government in this regard.

Expanding the activities of multinational forces on the coast of Lebanon from the south to the north and the ports of this country and the right to inspect vehicles entering Lebanon are other powers that Hochstein has requested for the UNIFIL forces in this country. The establishment of UNIFIL monitoring teams in civilian airports and the establishment of watchtowers on the borders of Lebanon and Syria are other things that the US representative demands for UNIFIL forces in this country.

Al-Akhbar adds that he wanted to convey this issue to the parties in his meetings and that he would return to Beirut only if they agreed to this plan. According to this report, at the same time, Nabih Berri spoke with Hochstein with full transparency and said that UN Resolution 1701 does not need any amendment. Instead of these proposals, America should look for a solution to stop Israel from violating this resolution, rather than imposing unilateral measures on the Lebanese side.

It is said that Najib Mikati also told the American side that no one in Lebanon would accept his proposals. He told Hochstein that Hezbollah believes that Israel is not in a position to impose conditions to stop the war.