Hezbollah to halt military campaign if Hamas agrees to truce with Israel

Hezbollah which has launched a strike against Israel, would halt its military campaign if Hamas agrees to a truce proposal with Israel in Gaza, provided that the Israel Defence Forces stops shelling Lebanon.

Hamas is now weighing a new proposal, agreed by Israel at talks with mediators in Paris last week, for a deal that would suspend fighting for 40 days, which would be the first extended pause of the five-month-old war.

“The moment Hamas announces its approval of the truce, and the moment the truce is declared, Hezbollah will adhere to the truce and will stop operations in the south immediately, as happened the previous time,” one of the two sources close to the heavily armed, Shi’ite Muslim group said, Reuters reported in an exclusive report.

Earlier this month, France delivered a written proposal to Beirut aimed at ending hostilities. It included negotiations to settle the disputed Lebanon-Israel frontier and a withdrawal of Hezbollah’s elite unit 10 km (6 miles) from the border.

Hezbollah, which exercises significant sway over the Lebanese state, has insisted it will discuss no arrangements for southern Lebanon until a permanent ceasefire has been agreed for Gaza. The two sources told Reuters this stance has not changed.

Hezbollah not in talks

The first source said Hezbollah had previously specified that there would be no talks with the group until after a Gaza ceasefire, and it stood by this position.

While hostilities have largely been limited to the border zone, Israeli fighter jets on Monday hit the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon, the most far-reaching strikes in Lebanon during the current conflict.

On Sunday, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant indicated that Israel planned to increase attacks on Hezbollah in the event of a possible ceasefire in the Gaza conflict.

He said the goal was to secure a Hezbollah withdrawal from the border region, either through a diplomatic agreement or by force.