Report: Israel, Hezbollah tell mediators they're ready for talks

Hezbollah has repeatedly said that it will stop its attacks if Israel halts its war with Hamas in Gaza. If that happens, both Israel and Hezbollah have “signaled to interlocutors that they would be prepared to begin negotiations for a formal truce,” three Western officials briefed on the sides’ positions and an Israeli official told the New York Times.

“Those negotiations would focus on the withdrawal of Hezbollah fighters from the southernmost areas of Lebanon and the deployment of more soldiers from Lebanon’s official military,” the officials said.

“The talks would also focus on how to demarcate the westernmost parts of the border between the two countries,” the officials added.

Even if those negotiations ultimately failed, the hope is that their initiation could provide the sides with “an excuse to maintain an informal cease-fire and give displaced residents the confidence to return home,” the officials said.

“Israel and Hezbollah’s openness to such negotiations reflects how, despite their retaliatory strikes and public rhetoric, both sides appear to be privately looking for an offramp that would allow them to de-escalate without losing face,” the NYT reported.

An Arab official briefed on Iran’s position meanwhile told the newspaper that “to protect Hezbollah, Iran wants a cease-fire in Gaza because it thinks it could lead to a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah.”