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US Envoy Says End to Israel-Hezbollah War ‘Within Our Grasp’
US special envoy Amos Hochstein speaks to the media after meeting with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, in Beirut, Lebanon, Nov. 19, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani
A senior US mediator said on Tuesday there was a “real opportunity” to end the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah and that gaps were narrowing, signaling progress in Washington’s efforts to clinch a ceasefire.
White House envoy Amos Hochstein spoke in Beirut following talks with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a day after the Lebanese government and Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist organization agreed to a US ceasefire proposal, with some comments on the content.
“I came back because we have a real opportunity to bring this conflict to an end,” Hochstein told a press conference after the meeting. “It is now within our grasp. As the window is now, I hope the coming days yield a resolute decision.”
Hochstein’s mission marks a last-ditch attempt by the outgoing US administration to clinch a ceasefire in Lebanon as diplomacy to end the war in Gaza appears totally adrift.
Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen said on Tuesday “there are talks regarding an arrangement with Lebanon” but reiterated that Israel would agree only if all its demands were met, including pushing Hezbollah away from the border.
The diplomatic efforts coincide with an intensification of the war, with Israel stepping up its strikes on Beirut’s Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs and striking three times in the capital itself in the last three days.
The conflict spiraled into all-out war in September when Israel went on the offensive, pounding wide areas of Lebanon with airstrikes, sending troops into the south, and killing many Hezbollah commanders including leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Hochstein has tried to broker a ceasefire several times over the last year.
Hezbollah has endorsed its long-time ally Berri as Lebanon’s negotiator. Hochstein flew to Beirut overnight after Lebanon delivered its written response to a US ceasefire proposal which Berri received last week from the US ambassador.
Israel launched its offensive after almost a year of cross-border hostilities with Hezbollah, which opened fire in solidarity with its Palestinian ally Hamas after the group’s Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel led to the start of the Gaza war. Hezbollah, which wields significant influence in Lebanon, has been firing barrages of rockets, missiles, and drones at neighboring northern Israel almost daily since last October, forcing tens of thousands of Israels to flee their homes.
Israel‘s declared goal is to dismantle Hezbollah‘s capabilities and secure the return of the Israelis evacuated from the north.
An Israeli strike killed two people in the Chiyah district of Beirut’s southern suburbs, the Lebanese health ministry said.
At least 35 projectiles were fired into Israel from Lebanon on Tuesday, some of which were intercepted, according to Israeli military statements. The Israeli air force also intercepted two drones flown into Israel from Lebanon, the military said.
Cohen, speaking at a conference on Tuesday, said Israel would “make an arrangement only if all our demands are met.”
He said this meant pushing back Hezbollah, ensuring it cannot return and regain strength, Israelis being able to return safely to the north, and Israeli forces having “full freedom of action, not just in the event of an attack, but in the event they [Hezbollah] try to restore their strength.”
Lebanon has rejected Israel being granted freedom of action. Berri said last week the US proposal did not mention this.
Israel‘s campaign in Lebanon has uprooted more than 1 million people in the last eight weeks.
UN RESOLUTION
World powers say a ceasefire must be based on UN Security Council Resolution 1701 which ended a 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah. Its terms require Hezbollah to move weapons and fighters north of the Litani River, about 30 km (20 miles) north of the Israeli border.
Ali Hassan Khalil, a top Berri aide, told Reuters on Monday that Lebanon had presented its comments on the US proposal “in a positive atmosphere.”
“All the comments that we presented affirm the precise adherence to Resolution 1701 with all its provisions,” he said, declining to give details.
Israel‘s campaign has killed 3,481 people in Lebanon since hostilities began, most since late September, Lebanese authorities say. The figures do not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
Hezbollah strikes have killed 43 civilians in northern Israel and the Golan Heights, while 73 soldiers have been killed in strikes in northern Israel and the Golan Heights and in combat in southern Lebanon, according to Israeli figures.
The post US Envoy Says End to Israel-Hezbollah War ‘Within Our Grasp’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.