Middle East latest: US envoy holds talks in Lebanon about an Israeli-Hezbollah cease-fire proposal

A U.S. envoy held talks in Beirut on Tuesday with Lebanese officials about a possible cease-fire in the Israel-Hezbollah war.

Amos Hochstein, a senior advisor to United States President Joe Biden, arrived in the Lebanese capital a day after the militant Hezbollah group reportedly gave a positive response to a U.S. draft proposal to end the war, which has been ongoing for more than 13 months.

The U.S. has been working on a proposal to end hostilities that would remove Israeli ground forces from Lebanon and push Hezbollah forces away from the Israeli border. More Lebanese troops and U.N. peacekeepers would be sent to the buffer zone in southern Lebanon as part of the deal.

Hochstein’s main meeting in beirut was with Lebanon’s Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally who is mediating for the militants. Hours earlier, an Israeli strike in central Beirut killed five people and wounded others. It was the third Israeli strike in the heart of Beirut in two days.

Since late September, Israel has dramatically escalated its bombardment of Lebanon, vowing to severely weaken Hezbollah and end its rocket barrages into Israel.

Hezbollah began firing rockets, and drawing Israeli retaliation, on Oct. 8, 2023, a day after Hamas’ attack on southern Israel ignited the war in Gaza. Both groups are supported by Iran. The fighting has left more than 3,500 dead in Lebanon and almost 15,000 wounded, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. It also has displaced nearly 1.2 million, or a quarter of Lebanon’s population.

On the Israeli side, 87 soldiers and 50 civilians, including some foreign laborers who work in agriculture, have been killed by attacks involving rockets, drones and missiles.

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Rockets hit headquarters of Italy's peacekeepers in Lebanon; no one is injured

ROME — Italy says eight rockets struck the headquarters of Italy’s U.N. peacekeeping contingent in southern Lebanon. No one was injured.

According to the Italian defense ministry, the eight 107-millimenter rockets hit outdoor areas and a warehouse at the base in Shama, where no soldiers were present. Five soldiers were being kept under observation, the statement said.

Italy said it was investigating from where the rockets originated, and who was responsible.

It was the second time in a week that Italy has complained about rockets or shells hitting its peacekeepers' base.

Last week, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani spoke with his Israeli counterpart to demand an investigation after an artillery shell hit the gym on the base. No one was injured in that incident and the shell did not detonate.

Also on Tuesday, the Israeli military said another U.N. peacekeeper's position was hit by a Hezbollah rocket, causing damage and “several injuries.”

The army said it had received a report from the peacekeeping mission, known as UNIFIL, that a post in the area of Ramyeh in southern Lebanon was hit.

The military said it conducted a review and determined the location was hit by a Hezbollah rocket fired in a barrage aimed at Israel. There was no immediate comment from UNIFIL on the incident.

Iraqi prime minister slams Israel's complaint over attacks by Iraqi Iran-backed militias

BAGHDAD — Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani has dismissed an Israeli complaint to the U.N. Security Council about strikes by Iraq's Iran-backed Shiite militias on Israel as a “pretext and argument to attack Iraq” and to “expand the war in the region.”

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar had earlier posted on X a letter to the Security Council saying that “Israel has the inherent right to self-defense ... and to take all necessary measures to protect itself and its citizens against the ongoing acts of hostilities by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq.”

An umbrella group of Iraqi militias known as the Islamic Resistance in Iraq has regularly launched drone strikes on targets in Israel in recent months in support of its Hamas and Hezbollah allies in the ongoing wars in the Middle East.

Saar said some of the militias are part of the Popular Mobilization Forces — a coalition of mostly Shiite armed groups that's technically part of the Iraqi army although it operates in practice largely outside state control — and urged the Iraqi government to “take immediate action to halt and prevent these attacks.”

Al-Sudani’s office said in a statement on Tuesday that Iraq has refused to enter into the regional conflict while “seeking to provide relief to the Palestinian and Lebanese people.”

Lebanese official mediating on behalf of Hezbollah says the situation looks positive regarding a US cease-fire proposal

BEIRUT — Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, an ally of Hezbollah who is mediating on the group’s behalf, says some unresolved details remain following his meeting with U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein over an American proposal on a cease-fire between Lebanon and Israel.

Berri, in remarks to the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat, said that representatives from his side and the American side are still working to address technical issues before progressing to the next stage.

This would involve Hochstein traveling to Israel for further discussions, he said.

“We are waiting for what he will bring from there,” Berri said, emphasizing that the overall outlook remains positive.

Berri and Hochstein met for nearly two hours on Tuesday to discuss the U.S. proposal. Berri also told that Lebanon holds the American negotiators responsible for guarantees regarding the Israeli position.

Berri said that though Hochstein "coordinated with the Israelis regarding the draft... It would not be the first time that the Israelis have reneged their commitments.”

Yemen's Houthis say they targeted a Panama-flagged vessel twice on Monday

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels on Tuesday claimed responsibility for an attack that twice targeted a Panama-flagged bulk carrier traveling through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden the day before.

Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree made the claim about the attack on the Anadolu S in a prerecorded statement.

Missiles twice splashed down near the ship on Monday, causing no damage or injuries.

Tuesday marked the first anniversary of the Houthis’ attacks on shipping in the Middle East waters.

The attacks have targeted shipping through a waterway that typically sees $1 trillion in goods pass through it a year over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and Israel’s ground offensive in Lebanon.

Qatar says Hamas leaders have left Doha but denies closure of the group's office

BEIRUT — Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson says Hamas leaders have left Doha but denied reports that Qatar has ordered a permanent closure of the Palestinian militant group’s political office or expulsion of its previously Doha-based leadership.

Qatar, which had served as a mediator in indirect cease-fire negotiations between Israel and Hamas for a cease-fire and hostage exchange deal, has suspended its efforts after growing frustration with the lack of progress on a cease-fire deal for Gaza.

The Qatari spokesman, Majed bin Mohammed al-Ansari, told reporters on Tuesday that "if there is decision to close the office permanently you will hear this news from this platform or in an official statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”

“The leaders of Hamas that are in the negotiating team are now not in Doha and as you know, they move between the different capitals,” he said. ”...The office in Doha was created for the purpose of the mediation process — obviously when there is no mediation process, the office itself doesn’t have any function.”

Al-Ansari did not say where the Hamas leaders went nor did he rule out that Doha might return to its mediating role.

“The suspension of negotiation efforts does not in any way mean that there is a Qatari position to withdraw from de-escalation efforts or that there is a change in the position of the State of Qatar on the need to end this war,” he said.

Israel's military says it sent 1,000 units of blood to a northern Gaza hospital

JERUSALEM — The Israeli military has facilitated the delivery of blood units to a hospital in isolated northern Gaza.

Israel has imposed a tight siege on the northernmost part of the territory since launching an offensive there in early October. Aid groups say very little humanitarian assistance has been allowed in and have warned of famine.

The military agency in charge of transferring aid to Gaza, COGAT, said it had sent 1,000 units of blood through a northern crossing on Monday. The U.N.’s health cluster said the blood shipment was delivered to Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahiya.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians have fled the northernmost reaches of the strip since the offensive began, and hospitals there have struggled to function.

Israeli forces kill three militants in the West Bank

JERUSALEM — Israeli forces have killed three militants during a raid Tuesday in the occupied West Bank, the military said. The militant Hamas group later identified the three as its fighters.

They were killed in the area of Jenin, in the north of the occupied territory, which has been a flashpoint for Israeli-Palestinian violence in recent years, even before the israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

The military said the militants shot at them first, drawing return fire that killed a wanted suspect and two others. The military said it found rifles and military equipment at the site.

It said it also destroyed two facilities used to manufacture explosives and dismantled explosives it said were buried under the roads.

Since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack triggered the war in Gaza, Israeli fire has killed at least 784 Palestinians in the West Bank, including 167 children, according to the Palestinian Authority’s Health Ministry.

Most appear to have been militants killed during Israeli raids, but the dead also include people killed during violent protests as well as civilian bystanders.

There has also been a rise in stabbing, shooting and car-ramming attacks against Israelis. Israel seized the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war, and the Palestinians want it as part of their future state.

Israel issues veiled warning to Iranian-backed militias in Iraq

JERUSALEM — Israel has issued a veiled threat to strike Iraq in response to recent attacks by Iran-backed militant groups based there.

In a letter to the United Nations Security Council posted on X, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said his country has the right to “take all necessary measures to protect itself and its citizens against the ongoing acts of hostilities by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq.”

Militants in Iraq have launched several rocket and drone attacks against both Israel and U.S. forces since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack triggered the war in Gaza.

An Oct. 3 drone attack launched from Iraq on an army base in northern Israel killed two Israeli soldiers and wounded 24, Saar said.

Israel is believed to have struck militants in Iraq in 2019, but it has not acknowledged any such strikes since the start of the war in Gaza. Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on Iran-backed militants in Syria, Lebanon and Yemen.

In his letter, Saar called on the U.N. to take “immediate action” to address the situation.

US envoy says a conclusion to the Israel-Hezbollah conflict is ‘within our grasp’

BEIRUT — A U.S. envoy to the Middle East says he had “very constructive talks” in Lebanon and that reaching an agreement to end the Israel-Hezbollah war “is now within our grasp.”

“Specifically today, we have continued to significantly narrow the gaps. The meeting was very constructive and very helpful,” Amos Hochstein, the U.S. envoy to Lebanon and Israel, told reporters Tuesday.

He spoke after a two-hour meeting with Lebanon’s Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, an ally of Hezbollah who is mediating on the group’s behalf.

The emerging agreement would apparently restore a U.N. buffer zone patrolled by international peacekeepers and Lebanese troops in southern Lebanon, with Israel withdrawing its ground forces and Hezbollah militants pulling back to the north.

Hochstein, who has been shuttling back and forth for several months, said he came back to the region because “we have a real opportunity to bring this conflict to an end.”

“I’m here in Beirut to facilitate that decision-making, but it’s ultimately the decisions of the parties to reach a conclusion to this conflict,” he said. “It is now within our grasp.”

Hochstein was scheduled to meet Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and other officials.

"I am committed to do everything I can to work with the government here in Lebanon and in Israel to bring this conflict to a close,” he said.

UN peacekeeping force says it's maintaining positions in Lebanon

GENEVA — The U.N. peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon, under pressure from an Israeli military campaign against militant group Hezbollah in its area of operations, says Argentina has asked three of its officers in the contingent to return home, while all other contributing countries are maintaining their commitments.

Spokesman Andrea Tenenti of UNIFIL said its “operational capabilities have not changed” after the move by Argentina, and U.N. forces have not moved from their positions – despite Israeli Defense Forces asking them to move from positions near the “blue line” along the Lebanon-Israel border about a month ago.

“The posture of our more than 10,000 peacekeepers from nearly 50 countries remain unchanged,” he told a U.N. briefing in Geneva by video conference from Beirut. The UNIFIL forces have not left the 50 positions across their area of operations, aiming to monitor and report on this situation since Israeli forces began their military campaign in Lebanon in September.

He said UNIFIL has limited means to monitor the situation amid the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. While Israeli forces have at times moved deeper into Lebanon, it’s not “permanently,” and the level of destruction in UNIFIL zones was “huge” and “shocking.”

Separately, UNICEF spokesman James Elder told the U.N. briefing that more than 200 children have been killed in Lebanon in less than the last two months, saying “their deaths are being met with inertia from those able to stop this violence.”

“It’s become a silent normalization of horror,” Elder said.

Tuesday marks 1-year anniversary of Houthi attacks on shipping in Red Sea

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Tuesday marks the one-year anniversary of Yemen’s Houthi rebels beginning their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea corridor.

On Nov. 19, 2023, the Houthis seized the car carrier Galaxy Leader in a helicopter-borne attack in the Red Sea. The ship and its 25 crew remain held until today, something the United Nations Security Council noted in a statement calling on the rebels to release the ship and its crew.

The Houthis have attacked over 90 commercial vessels in the time since. They sank two vessels in the campaign, which also killed four sailors. Other missiles and drones have either been intercepted by a U.S.-led coalition in the Red Sea or failed to reach their targets, which have included Western military vessels as well.