BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s interim prime minister on Friday asked Iran to help broker a ceasefire in the region War between Israel and Hezbollah and appeared to urge the militant group to agree to a deal that would require it to withdraw from the Israel-Lebanon border.

The Prime Minister made these comments during his meeting with Ali Larijani, one of the main advisors of Iran’s religious leader Ali Khamenei. Larijani’s visit to Lebanon comes as the United States continues to push both sides to reach an agreement that would end 13 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.

Iran is one of Hezbollah’s main backers and has been financing and arming the Lebanese militant group for decades. Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel a day after Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 sparked the war in Gaza, and contacts between the two sides have accelerated since then.

Since late September, Israel has dramatically increased its bombardment of Lebanon, vowing to cripple Hezbollah and end its barrage in Israel. More than 3 thousand 300 people were killed The Lebanese Ministry of Health says that 80 percent of the fires caused by Israeli fire in Lebanon occurred in the last month.

According to Lebanese media, US Ambassador Lisa Johnson delivered the proposed draft ceasefire agreement to Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who is leading the talks on behalf of Hezbollah.

Heavy smoke and flames emerge from Israel’s air strike on Tayouneh, Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, November 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Hassan Ammar

A Lebanese official confirmed that Beirut had received a copy of the draft proposal based on UN Security Council resolution 1701, which ended the last Israel-Hezbollah war in the summer of 2006.

This decision said, among other things, that only the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers should operate in southern Lebanon, meaning Hezbollah should end its presence there. That provision was never implemented. Lebanon accuses Israel of violating the decision by retaining a small, disputed border area and operating frequent military flights over Lebanon.

The Lebanese official did not elaborate, except to say that Israel insisted that some guarantees be included. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media about ongoing talks.

The US Embassy declined to confirm or deny the reports.

During his meeting with Larijani, Lebanese Prime Minister Naguib Mikati called on Iran to help implement resolution 1701. According to the statement released about the talks, Mikati said that the Lebanese government wants the war to end and the decision to be implemented “in all details”. next to his office.

Mikati, who has further criticized Iran’s role in Lebanon in recent weeks, also said that the government wants Iran to help Lebanon’s national unity and not take any stance that supports one party over another.

Iran’s support for Hezbollah has helped the group, the most powerful group among Lebanon’s Shiite Muslims, dominate the country’s politics over the past decade.

After meeting Mikati and Berri, Larijani said that the main purpose of his visit was to “say out loud that we will stand by the Lebanese government and people.”

Asked if the United States was trying to obstruct the ceasefire mediation, Larijani said: “We are not trying to thwart any efforts, but we want to solve the problem and we will stand by Lebanon no matter what the circumstances are.”

Larijani had held similar meetings with President Bashar Assad in Syria the day before. The Syrian state news agency said Assad and Larijani discussed “the ongoing attack on Palestine and Lebanon and the need to stop it.”

While Larijani was in Beirut, Israeli forces launched a new offensive on the southeastern edge of the city.

Footage taken by an Associated Press photographer shows a rocket about to hit an 11-storey residential building in Beirut’s Tayouneh district, followed by an explosion of flames coming out from the side of the building. A large part of the lower floors of the building turned into a pile of rubble.

There were no immediate reports of casualties. The Israeli army had warned before the attack, saying that the facility belonged to Hezbollah.

Rescue teams continued to search under the rubble near the eastern Lebanese city of Baalbek, the site of the Israeli attack that hit a civil defense center in the town of Douris the night before.

So far, the bodies of 13 employees and volunteers of the Lebanese Civil Defense have been found, as well as some other remains that will require DNA testing, the agency said.

While Israel continues its campaign in the Gaza Strip, it has expanded its operations in Lebanon, vowing to destroy Hamas, which is also supported by Iran.

Funerals were held on Friday for 11 Palestinians killed in a series of airstrikes in and around the Israeli city of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on Thursday. An AP reporter stated that the dead included two children who were seen with the other dead.

On Thursday, 10 elected members of the UN Security Council circulated a draft resolution demanding an “immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire” in Gaza. Israel’s closest ally, the United States, holds the key to whether the UN Security Council will accept the resolution. The other four permanent members (Russia, China, Britain and France) are expected to either support it or abstain.

Israel-Hamas war It started after Palestinian militants attacked Israel The killing of approximately 1,200 people, mostly civilians, on October 7, 2023, and He kidnapped 250 more people.

Palestinian health officials say Israeli bombardment and ground attacks since then have killed more than 43,000 people in Gaza. Authorities do not distinguish between civilians and combatants but say more than half of those killed were women and children.

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The rises were reported from Bangkok. Abby Sewell in Beirut and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.

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