U.S. envoy off to Israel for truce talks; Hezbollah chief says deal depends on Netanyahu

BEIRUT, Lebanon, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein said Wednesday progress has been made in the negotiations with Lebanon, while Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem insisted that Israel cannot impose its conditions to stop the raging war.

Hochstein, who headed to Israel after holding another round of talks with House Speaker Nabih Berri in Beirut on Wednesday, said "the meeting today builds on the meeting yesterday and made additional progress."

He told reporters at Berri's headquarters that he will travel to Israel "in a couple of hours ... to try to bring this to a close. If we can."

Cease-fire talks have been focusing on the complete implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel, but has not been fully respected by both parties since.

The resolution calls for the disarmament of Hezbollah and its withdrawal to the north of the Litani River, the pullout of Israeli forces from Lebanese territories, and Army and U.N. peacekeeping troops serving as the only force in charge of security in the southern border area.

Israel has been trying to impose new conditions to secure more enforcement mechanisms and have a free hand in Lebanon to prevent Hezbollah's rearming and funding.

Lebanon rejected the Israeli conditions. saying they violate the country's sovereignty, and insisted on the implementation of Resolution 1701 as is.

Hochstein's discussions in Beirut are meant to continue narrowing the gaps between Lebanon and Israel.

The U.S. envoy refused to comment on "the sticking points," saying "I would go to Israel and make those different discussions there based on the conversations here and see what we can do."

Hochstein reportedly is scheduled to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv on Thursday.

The Hezbollah leader, on his part, said his group agreed to engage in indirect negotiations and presented its remarks concerning the U.S. cease-fire draft proposal to stop the Israeli "aggression" and preserve Lebanon's sovereignty.

Qassem said the truce depends on how Israel would respond and on "Netanyahu's seriousness."

"Israel cannot defeat us and impose its conditions on us while we are in the battlefield and will remain there," he said in a televised speech broadcast on Hezbollah-run al Manar TV. "Israel will not take in the negotiations what it failed to achieve on the battlefield."

Rejecting an Israeli condition to maintain the right to act against any Hezbollah violation, he said "the Israeli enemy has no right to violate, kill and enter [Lebanon] whenever it wants."

Hezbollah fighters have been battling Israeli forces advancing in southern Lebanon and have been firing missiles into Israeli territories, targeting Tel Aviv a few days ago in retaliation to the killing of Hezbollah spokesman Mohamad Afif and hitting residential areas in Beirut.

"We cannot leave the capital under the Israeli enemy attacks. Otherwise, it will pay the price, and the price is central Tel Aviv," Qassem said. "We are negotiating now, but not under fire as they say because Israel is also under fire."

Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging fire across the border since the militant group opened a "support front" for Gaza in October 2023.

The conflict descended into war when Israel expanded its attacks Sept. 17 with an unprecedented, highly sophisticated pager and walkie-talkie attack against Hezbollah members, killing a dozen people and wounding more than 3,000.

The peak was the assassination 10 days later of Nasrallah in his bunker in Beirut's southern suburbs, along with several of his military commanders.

Hezbollah was further weakened when Israel stepped up its strikes by killing more of its officials and destroying its headquarters, missiles launchers and bases.

The relentless Israeli air and ground bombardment led to large destruction of villages, property, hospitals and schools in Beirut's southern suburbs and in southern and eastern Lebanon. An estimated 3,516 people have been killed and 14,929 wounded in Lebanon since October 2023.