U.S. President Biden to announce ceasefire in Lebanon tonight, Israeli Broadcasting Corporation

CAIRO – 26 November 2024:  The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation said on Tuesday that US President Joe Biden will announce a ceasefire in Lebanon by 10 pm.

The United States had announced earlier that a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon was ‘imminent’, but talks are still ongoing, according to the White House.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that ‘Nothing is negotiated until everything is negotiated’. He added saying during a press briefing “We’re close. The discussions were constructive, and the trajectory of this is going in a very positive direction, but nothing is negotiated until everything is negotiated, and conversations are ongoing”.

The issue is a top priority for US President Joe Biden, who has been in direct contact with his special envoy for Lebanon, Amos Hochstein, Kirby said.

The United States envoy Amos Hochstein visited Beirut and Israel last week as he met officials from both sides. During his visit, he announced that the gaps between Hezbollah and Israel had “narrowed”, raising optimism about a deal between the two parties.

Najib Mikati, the caretaker prime minister in Lebanon, expressed his hope that a ceasefire agreement with Israel would be announced, and said that he did not think that reaching an agreement was possible until after the US presidential elections.

Reports are being circulated on a possible agreement to be concluded within days between Lebanon and Israel that guarantees a ceasefire for a period of 60 days, and according to the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation, the draft agreement stipulates an initial truce for a period of 60 days.

Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration Badr Abdelatty reiterated Monday in a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken the importance of empowering Lebanese state institutions, mainly the army so it would control the south.

Abdelatty and Blinken conferred over the war in Lebanon, and efforts to achieve a ceasefire, on the sidelines of the G7 Ministerial Meetings held in Italy. The former underscored the importance of implementing UN Security Council resolution no. 1701 issued in 2006 on halting hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.