The Biden administration has been floating a proposal for a temporary cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah to calm the escalating conflict that has driven tens of thousands of people from their homes in northern Israel and southern Lebanon, U.S. officials said Wednesday.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other U.S. officials have spent the past three days at and on the sidelines of the annual U.N. General Assembly meeting of world leaders in New York lobbying other countries to support the plan, which they hope could lead to longer-term stability along the border, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic conversations.
However, they said the specifics of the proposal were not yet complete.
One official said Israel is supportive of U.S. efforts to deescalate the situation.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah launched dozens of rockets into Israel on Wednesday, including a longer-range projectile that set off air raid sirens in Tel Aviv and across central Israel. It was the group’s farthest strike yet. Israel said it intercepted the projectile, and there were no reports of casualties or damage.
Hezbollah said it had fired a ballistic missile at the headquarters of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, which it said was responsible for the targeted killing of its senior leaders. Israel later said it struck the site the missile was launched from in southern Lebanon.
Israel killed a top Hezbollah commander Tuesday as part of a two-day bombing campaign that left more than 560 people dead and prompted thousands in southern Lebanon to seek refuge from the widening conflict. Hezbollah has launched hundreds of projectiles towards Israel, causing some damage to buildings and homes and lightly injuring a number of people.
Israel and Hezbollah have been trading fire since the Israel-Hamas war began. Israel’s military says it will do “whatever is necessary” to push Hezbollah away from Lebanon’s border with Israel.
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