POSSIBILITY FOR AN ARMY

White House spokesman Amos Hochstein, the US official who has led several unsuccessful attempts to negotiate a ceasefire over the past year, told Axios earlier this week that he believes “there is a chance” of a ceasefire in Lebanon soon .

Khalil said Lebanese negotiators had agreed on “some text” with Hochstein during his last visit to Beirut.

Hochstein was supposed to communicate this to the Israeli side and then send any remarks back to Beirut, Khalil said. “We are waiting, and God willing, soon it will be the project that has arrived,” he said.

Israel wants the right to step in itself to enforce any ceasefire if it deems it necessary, noting that the presence of UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon has not stopped Hezbollah from building up forces in the area.

Khalil said that “no Lebanese … will accept that Israel has freedom of movement in Lebanon.”

He also said that Lebanon has no objection to the participation of the US or France in monitoring the ceasefire.

Plumes of smoke rose over Beirut as the attacks continued, while raids also reached Bint Jbeil in southern Lebanon, where overnight airstrikes and artillery shelling caused severe damage to buildings and residential complexes, according to the Agency National News Agency (NNA) of Lebanon.

The Israeli military said its warplanes carried out a series of strikes in southern Beirut, targeting weapons depots, military headquarters and other infrastructure used by Hezbollah.

Five people were killed in airstrikes on the towns of Bazourieh and Jumayjimah, NNA reported.

Lebanese authorities have not yet confirmed casualties from Thursday’s strikes in Beirut’s southern suburbs, which have mostly been evacuated. According to Lebanon’s Ministry of Health, Israeli attacks have killed at least 3,365 people and injured 14,344 in Lebanon as of October 7, 2023.

Hezbollah attacks have killed about 100 civilians and soldiers in northern Israel, the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and southern Lebanon in the past year, according to Israel.