Israel and Lebanon have agreed to pursue a U.S.-backed ceasefire plan that would require Hezbollah to halt its attacks and withdraw fighters from parts of southern Lebanon, according to a statement from the U.S. State Department.
The announcement follows renewed violence along the border, where Israeli strikes killed at least nine people on Wednesday. Hezbollah also fired rockets towards northern Israel, placing further strain on a limited truce reached earlier in the week.
Under the proposed framework, Hezbollah would be expected to remove its operatives from territory between the Litani river and the Israeli border. Lebanese troops would then take control of selected areas in the south, with Washington helping to establish pilot zones where the army would be the only armed force present.
The plan is intended to strengthen the Lebanese government’s authority and reduce Hezbollah’s military presence near Israel. Israeli and Lebanese representatives are due to resume talks on 22 June as they work towards a broader agreement.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington wanted to develop “an action plan on a track for security in [Lebanon], independent from Hezbollah.”
Hezbollah has not formally responded to the latest proposal. However, Mahmoud Qamati, a member of the group’s political council, rejected the suggestion that a meaningful ceasefire had already been reached.
“There was no ceasefire agreement, just the protection of Dahieh,” he told the BBC, referring to the Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
The latest fighting has added to concerns about the humanitarian toll. Lebanon’s health ministry said six people were killed in a strike near Tyre, while two paramedics died after an ambulance was hit in Chehour. A Lebanese soldier was also killed in a separate Israeli strike, and two others were injured.
Israel said it intercepted a drone and two projectiles launched from Lebanon. Hezbollah said it had targeted Israeli troops.
The conflict has displaced more than one million people in Lebanon, according to the United Nations. Lebanon’s health ministry says at least 3,516 people have been killed since the fighting intensified, although its figures do not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
The ceasefire effort comes as the U.S. tries to prevent the conflict in Lebanon from undermining wider negotiations involving Israel and Iran.