Lebanon supports US-Egypt-Qatar call for truce talks on Aug. 15
Caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said Friday, after he met with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, that the Lebanese government supports a joint statement by the United States, Egypt and Qatar, calling on Israel and Hamas to return to the negotiating table.
The foreign powers involved in brokering a possible cease-fire aimed at halting the fighting in Gaza and releasing Israeli hostages have jointly appealed to Israel and Hamas to return to the negotiating table next week.
The statement issued Thursday by the U.S., Egypt and Qatar, the three mediators in the monthslong Israel-Hamas war, called on the parties to resume stalled cease-fire talks on Aug. 15 in either Qatar’s capital of Doha or Egypt’s capital of Cairo.
“There is no further time to waste nor excuses from any party for further delay,” it said, adding that the negotiators have already finalized a “framework” for the deal. All that’s left to hammer out, it said, are the details of implementation.
The statement, signed by U.S. President Joe Biden, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, said the mediators were prepared to present a final compromise "that resolves the remaining implementation issues in a manner that meets the expectations of all parties." It did not elaborate on what that would look like.
"There is no time for further delay," Bou Habib said, adding that the Lebanese government urges all parties to end the war and release the hostages as soon as possible. "It is time for calm to return to the region," he added.
There has been a flurry of diplomacy in recent days after the assassination of Hamas’ political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, prompted fears of a wider regional war.
Hamas this week announced that Yahya Sinwar, one of the architects of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, would replace Haniyeh as the leader of Hamas’ political wing. Haniyeh previously served as the key interlocutor in the indirect cease-fire talks with Israel.
U.S. diplomats said the negotiations had been approaching a breakthrough just before Israel’s assassination of a top Hezbollah commander in Beirut and the killing of Haniyeh in Tehran brought vows of retaliation from Hezbollah and Iran and left the Middle East on edge.
Israel confirmed that it will send negotiators to resume the indirect cease-fire talks with Hamas next week.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said late Thursday that the government would heed the call by foreign mediators to revive negotiations aimed at halting the fighting in Gaza and bringing home Israeli hostages still captive in the enclave.
Source: Naharnet, Associated Press
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