US envoy cites ‘additional progress’ in Lebanon-Israel cease-fire talks

By Rania Abu Shamala
ISTANBUL (AA) – US envoy Amos Hochstein cited additional progress on Wednesday in talks aimed at reaching a cease-fire between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah.
Speaking after his talks with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri in Beirut, Hochstein said he will depart to Israel for cease-fire talks with officials there.
“The meeting today built on the meeting yesterday and made additional progress, so I will travel from here in a couple of hours to Israel to try to bring this to a close if we can,” he told a press conference.
“As planned, if we made progress, I would go to Israel,” he added.
“We are going to work with the incoming (US) administration, we are already going to be discussing this with them. They will be fully aware of everything we are doing,” Hochstein said.
On Tuesday, the US envoy said that a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah to end their conflict was “within our grasp.”
The US, Israel’s main ally, is mediating between Tel Aviv and Beirut to reach a cease-fire deal to end more than a year of attacks between Hezbollah and Israel.
Israel has engaged in cross-border warfare with Lebanon, launching an air campaign in late September against what it claims are Hezbollah targets.
More than 3,500 people have been killed by Israeli attacks in Lebanon, with nearly 15,000 injured and more than a million displaced since last October, according to Lebanese health authorities.
Tel Aviv expanded the conflict by launching a ground assault into southern Lebanon on Oct. 1 this year.