BEIRUT — The United States and other mediators are stepping up efforts to stop the wars in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, circulating new proposals to end the regional conflict in the final months of the Biden administration.

Negotiations on both fronts have been deadlocked for months, and neither side has shown signs of backing down from their demands.

Senior White House officials Brett McGurk and Amos Hochstein will visit Israel on Thursday for talks on a possible ceasefire in both Lebanon and Gaza and the release of hostages held by Hamas, according to a US official who did not was authorized to comment publicly and speak. on the condition of anonymity. The official also said CIA Director Bill Burns was heading to Egypt on Thursday to discuss those efforts.

A proposal to end the war between Israel and Hezbollah calls for a two-month ceasefire during which Israeli forces would withdraw from Lebanon and Hezbollah would end its armed presence along the country’s southern border, they said two other officials familiar with the discussions.

But Israel is unlikely to trust UN peacekeepers and Lebanese troops to keep Hezbollah out of a re-established buffer zone in Lebanon. He wants the freedom to strike militants if necessary. Lebanese officials want a full withdrawal.

Separately, the US, Egypt and Qatar proposed a four-week ceasefire in Gaza, during which Hamas would release up to 10 hostages, according to an Egyptian official and a Western diplomat.

But Hamas still appears unwilling to release dozens of hostages without securing a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, even after the killing of its top leader, Yahya Sinwar. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted on Israel’s lasting control over parts of the territory.

In Lebanon, a push to revive the UN resolution that ended the last war

During his visit to Beirut last week, Hochstein met with the Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament, Nabih Berri. They agreed on a roadmap on how to implement UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 34-day Israel-Hezbollah war in 2006, according to a Lebanese official who spoke on condition of anonymity to to discuss closed-door talks.

The resolution calls for a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from all Lebanese territory, and the withdrawal of all armed forces except UN peacekeepers and the Lebanese army from the area south of the Litani River, about 30 kilometers (20 miles). ) north of the border.

On Wednesday, Hezbollah’s newly elected leader, Naim Kassem, said the group would not “beg” for a ceasefire. “If the Israelis decide to stop the aggression, we say we accept it, but under the conditions we see fit,” he said during a televised address.

Israel has not publicly commented on the proposal to end the latest war, which began more than a year ago and escalated dramatically in mid-September.

Two US officials say competing proposals for a ceasefire in Lebanon are being discussed, including one that calls for an immediate ceasefire followed by two months to fully implement the resolution.

The Lebanese official said that once the ceasefire is reached, a 60-day period will begin in which the Lebanese army and the peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL will deploy to the border area, as Israeli forces and Hezbollah fighters withdraw.

The Lebanese official said the roadmap includes increasing the number of UN peacekeepers from 10,000 to 15,000 and increasing the number of Lebanese troops south of Litani from 4,000 to 15,000.

Resolution 1701 also called for the “disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon,” including Hezbollah, but this is not part of the initial implementation phase of the current proposal.

Another official familiar with the talks said Israel demanded that any deal include measures to prevent Hezbollah from rearming and guarantees that Israel would be able to act in the buffer zone to counter threats from the militant group.

It is unclear whether Lebanon would agree to a deal that would allow Israel to continue military operations on Lebanese soil. Lebanese officials insisted there should be no change to Resolution 1701, which calls for a complete Israeli withdrawal.

Hezbollah has said it will not stop firing rockets into Israel unless there is a ceasefire in Gaza. It is unclear whether that position has changed since the killing of Hezbollah’s longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah and several other top commanders in Israeli airstrikes last month.

Mediators are proposing a limited ceasefire in Gaza

The US, Egypt and Qatar have proposed a four-week ceasefire in Gaza in which eight to 10 hostages would be released, according to a senior Egyptian official.

Under the plan, humanitarian aid to Gaza will be expanded, but there will be no guarantees of future talks on a permanent ceasefire, the official said.

Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people and kidnapped about 250 in the Oct. 7 attack that sparked the war. Israel’s retaliatory offensive killed more than 43,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, who did not say how many were combatants, but said more than half were women and children.

About 100 hostages are still being held in Gaza, about a third of whom are believed to be dead.

The latest proposal builds on an initiative by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, who proposed a two-day ceasefire in exchange for the release of four hostages last week.

Netanyahu, who has always said he is open to a temporary truce to release the hostages, said in a statement that he had not received a formal proposal based on the Egyptian initiative but “would have accepted it immediately.”

Hamas has said it is open to discussing alternative proposals, but has stood by its demands for a lasting ceasefire, Israeli withdrawal and the release of Palestinian prisoners.

The Egyptian official said the mediators were not optimistic.

A Western diplomat in Cairo confirmed that their government had been briefed on the proposal, saying it was being pursued in parallel with ceasefire efforts in Lebanon. Both Egyptian officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the talks publicly.

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Frankel reported from Jerusalem and Magdy from Cairo. Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed.