Top UN official in Lebanon says ceasefire is still on the table

The top U.N. official in Lebanon has repeated her call for an immediate ceasefire, saying the 21-day cease-fire proposal launched by the U.S. and France is still on the table “and very relevant.”

Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert said that a halt to fighting is the only way to ease “the colossal human suffering that is happening right now,” address Lebanon’s “humanitarian crisis of catastrophic proportions” and provide a window “for diplomatic efforts to take hold and succeed.”

The U.N. special coordinator for Lebanon expressed hope during a video press conference from Beirut “that Israel will now, or soon, be ready to add its support to the many calls and appeals out there for a ceasefire or a pause.”

“I’m not saying that it’s going to be an easy ride or walk in a park,” she said. “It will be difficult, but I am convinced that it’s doable, and it’s in the interest of Lebanon, in the interest of Israel to find sustainable solutions.”

Hennis-Plasschaert said there must also be a realistic roadmap to implement the 2006 U.N. Security Council resolution that ended the Israeli-Hezbollah war. Its key provisions include disarming all armed groups including Hezbollah and deploying the Lebanese Army throughout the country’s south, which borders Israel and is a Hezbollah stronghold.

“At the end of the day, it is the lack or non-implementation of resolution 1701 over the past 18 years that led to today’s harsh reality,” Hennis-Plasschaert said.