Lebanon’s caretaker PM hopes for Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire ‘in coming hours or days’
Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister has said he hopes a ceasefire deal between Hezbollah and Israel will be announced “in the coming hours or days”.
Najib Mikati made the comments after speaking to American envoy Amos Hochstein.
Israeli broadcaster Kan said the draft deal was written by the US and dated 26 October, and would see Israel pull out within a week of the truce starting.
It would reportedly last an initial 60 days and includes Israel‘s “right to act in self-defence” against imminent threats.
Mr Mikati told Lebanon‘s Al Jadeed TV station, the envoy “suggested to me that we could reach an agreement before the end of the month and before 5 November” (the US election date).
“We are doing everything we can and we should remain optimistic that in the coming hours or days, we will have a ceasefire,” said Mr Mikati.
However, the White House urged caution.
National security spokesman Sean Savett said there were “many reports and drafts circulating” which “do not reflect the current state of negotiations”.
Israel and Hezbollah did not immediately comment on the reports.
Baalbek, in eastern Lebanon, was hit by airstrikes on Wednesday. Pic: Fadi Majdaloun
Israel began a ground offensive in southern Lebanon at the start of October and has also been carrying out airstrikes, including in the capital Beirut.
It says the offensive is designed to allow its citizens to return to homes near the border after rocket fire from Hezbollah over the past year forced them to move.
The Iran-aligned group is designated a terrorist entity by countries including the UK and US.
Hezbollah’s new leader, Naim Kassem, said earlier that it would keep fighting until it’s offered acceptable ceasefire terms.
In his first public comments since replacing Hassan Nasrallah, he said: “If the Israelis decide to stop the aggression, we say that we accept, but according to the conditions that we see as suitable.”
“We will not beg for a ceasefire as we will continue [fighting]… no matter how long it takes.”
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Inside a bombed hospital in Beirut
As Israeli attacks continued on Wednesday, airstrikes hit the historic eastern city of Baalbek.
Nineteen people in two towns in the region – including eight women – were killed, the health ministry said.
It came hours after Israel issued an evacuation warning for the city, including its Roman temple complex – a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
“The whole city is in a panic trying to figure out where to go, there’s a huge traffic jam,” said local civil defence chief Bilal Raad before the strikes began.
Israel said later that it had targeted Hezbollah fuel reservoirs in the Baalbek region.
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Hezbollah’s new leader may adopt more cautious approach
Lebanon’s health ministry says more than 2,790 people have been killed and about 12,700 wounded since 8 October last year, when Hezbollah began firing rockets and Israel retaliated.
Most of those deaths have been reported in the last five weeks, and officials say more than a million people have been displaced.
World
Trump criticises Putin after potentially ‘historic’ meeting with Zelenskyy before Pope’s funeral
Donald Trump has criticised Vladimir Putin and suggested a shift in his stance towards the Russian president after a meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy before the Pope’s funeral.
The Ukrainian president said the one-on-one talks could prove to be “historic” after pictures showed him sitting opposite Mr Trump, around two feet apart, in the large marble hall inside St Peter’s Basilica.
The US president said he doubted his Russian counterpart’s willingness to end the war after leaving Rome after the funeral of Pope Francis at the Vatican.
Follow live updates: 200,000 mourn at Vatican
In a post on his Truth Social platform, he said “there was no reason” for the Russian president “to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days”.
The two leaders held talks before attending the Pope’s funeral
He added: “It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through ‘Banking’ or ‘Secondary Sanctions?’ Too many people are dying!!!”
The meeting between the US and Ukrainian leaders was their first face-to-face encounter since a very public row in the Oval Office in February.
Mr Zelenskyy said he had a good meeting with Mr Trump in which they talked about the defence of the Ukrainian people, a full and unconditional ceasefire, and a durable and lasting peace that would prevent the war restarting.
Other images released by the Ukrainian president’s office show Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron were present for part of the talks, which were described as “positive” by the French presidency.
Mr Zelenskyy‘s spokesman said the meeting lasted for around 15 minutes and he and Mr Trump had agreed to hold further discussions later on Saturday.
The world leaders shared a moment before the service
Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy meet in the Basilica
But the US president left Rome for Washington on Air Force One soon after the funeral without any other talks having taken place.
The Ukrainian president’s office said there was no second meeting in Rome because of the tight schedule of both leaders, although he had separate discussions with Mr Starmer and Mr Macron.
The French president said in a post on X “Ukraine is ready for an unconditional ceasefire” and that a so-called coalition of the willing, led by the UK and France, would continue working to achieve a lasting peace.
There was applause from some of the other world leaders in attendance at the Vatican when Mr Zelenskyy walked out of St Peter’s Basilica after stopping in front of the pontiff’s coffin to pay his respects.
Donald Trump and the Ukrainian president met for the first time since their Oval Office row. Pic: Reuters
Sir Tony Brenton, the former British ambassador to Russia, said the event presents diplomatic opportunities, including the “biggest possible meeting” between Mr Trump and the Ukrainian leader.
He told Sky News it could mark “an important step” in starting the peace process between Russia and Ukraine.
Professor Father Francesco Giordano told Sky News the meeting is being called “Pope Francis’s miracle” by members of the clergy, adding: “There’s so many things that happened today – it was just overwhelming.”
The bilateral meeting comes after Mr Trump’s peace negotiator Steve Witkoff held talks with Mr Putin at the Kremlin.
They discussed “the possibility of resuming direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine”, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said.
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Russia and Ukraine have not held direct talks since the early weeks of the war, which began in February 2022.
Mr Trump has claimed a deal to end the war is “very close” and has urged Mr Zelenskyy to “get it done” in a post on his Truth Social platform.
He has previously warned both sides his administration would walk away from its efforts to achieve a peace if the two sides do not agree a deal soon.
Meanwhile, the Polish armed forces said a Russian military helicopter violated its airspace over the Baltic Sea on Friday evening.
“The nature of the incident indicates that Russia is testing the readiness of our air defence systems,” they said in a post on X.
On an extraordinary day, remarkable pictures on the margins that capture what may be a turning point for the world.
In a corner of St Peter’s Basilica before the funeral of Pope Francis, the leaders of America and Ukraine sit facing each other in two solitary chairs.
They look like confessor and sinner except we cannot tell which one is which.
Leaning forward hands together in their laps, Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy stare at each other in one photo.
In another, the Ukrainian president seems to be remonstrating with the US president. This is their first encounter since their infamous bust-up in the Oval Office.
The two leaders held talks before attending the Pope’s funeral
Other pictures show the moment their French and British counterparts introduced the two men. There is a palpable sense of nervousness in the way the leaders engage.
We do not know what the two presidents said in their brief meeting.
But in the mind of the Ukrainian leader will be the knowledge President Trump has this week said America will reward Russia for its unprovoked brutal invasion of his country, under any peace deal.
Mr Trump has presented Ukraine and Russia with a proposal and ultimatum so one-sided it could have been written in the Kremlin.
Kyiv must surrender the land Russia has taken by force, Crimea forever, the rest at least for now. And it must submit to an act of extortion, a proposed deal that would hand over half its mineral wealth effectively to America.
The world leaders shared a moment before the service
Afterwards, Zelenskyy said it had been a good meeting that could turn out to be historic “if we reach results together”.
They had talked, he said, about the defence of Ukraine, a full and unconditional ceasefire and a durable and lasting peace that will prevent a war restarting.
The Trump peace proposal includes only unspecified security guarantees for Ukraine from countries that do not include the US. It rules out any membership of Ukraine.
Ukraine’s allies are watching closely to see if Mr Trump will apply any pressure on Vladimir Putin, let alone punish him for recent bloody attacks on Ukraine.
Or will he simply walk away if the proposal fails, blaming Ukrainian intransigence, however outrageously, before moving onto a rapprochement with Moscow.
If he does, America’s role as guarantor of international security will be seen effectively as over.
This could be the week we see the world order as we have known it since the end of the Second World War buried, as well as a pope.
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