BEIRUT – A US envoy is due in Lebanon on Nov 19 for talks on a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, with Beirut positive about Washington’s efforts to end the war but seeking changes to how a truce would be monitored, a senior Lebanese official said.

       The trip by White House envoy Amos Hochstein, whose visit was flagged by several Lebanese sources but has yet to be confirmed by Washington, is expected to build on a US ceasefire proposal submitted to Lebanon last week.

       Washington’s ceasefire diplomacy has come back into focus as its ally Israel has stepped up its offensive.

       Israeli strikes in two Beirut neighbourhoods killed six people, including at least one senior Hezbollah official on Nov 17, the first time Israel has struck central areas of the capital in more than five weeks.

       A second Lebanese official said the US proposal contained points that have been agreed upon and others that need discussion with Mr Hochstein on Nov 19. Both Lebanese officials spoke on condition of anonymity due to diplomatic sensitivities.

       World powers say a Lebanon ceasefire must be based on UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended a 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel. Its terms require Hezbollah to move weapons and fighters north of the Litani river, some 20km north of the border.

       Israel has dealt Hezbollah big blows since launching an offensive against the group in September, killing its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and pounding Lebanon with air strikes. Hezbollah has kept up rocket fire into northern Israel, where sirens sounded again on Nov 18.

       Hezbollah submitted notes on the US ceasefire proposal to Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri that would not obstruct a truce, the senior Lebanese official said.

       But Lebanon was opposed to a proposal to expand a ceasefire monitoring committee to include possibly Germany or Britain.

       “If, for example, a Hezbollah facility appears, who will dismantle it?” the official said, adding: “The Lebanese side wants the (Lebanese) army to deal with this.”

       Israel has long complained that Resolution 1701 was never implemented properly, noting the presence of Hezbollah fighters and weapons along the border. Lebanon says Israel violated it by regularly flying in its airspace.

       Mr Berri, endorsed by Hezbollah to negotiate, told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper on Nov 15 that discussion was under way about the “proposed alternative (monitoring) mechanism”.

       “We won’t go along with it,” he said, adding there was a “clear existing mechanism” that could be activated, referring to UN peacekeepers.

       He said the proposal did not include freedom for Israel to act should Hezbollah violate any agreement – an Israeli demand rejected by Lebanon.

       Speaking after meeting Prime Minister Najib Mikati, lawmaker Simon Abi Ramia sounded hopeful, saying Lebanon was on the verge of a ceasefire if there was “no manoeuvring by Israel”, Mr Mikati’s office said.

       Another lawmaker, Mr Kassem Hashem, part of Mr Berri’s parliamentary bloc, told Voice of Lebanon on Nov 18 that the atmosphere was positive but complained that Israel was forcing Lebanon to study the draft “under fire”.

       Israel has intensified air strikes over the last week, hitting Beirut’s Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs on a daily basis and widening raids to central areas on Nov 17, killing Hezbollah media official Mohammad Afif.

       Residents of Mar Elias, one of the neighbourhoods targeted, surveyed the damage on the morning of Nov 18. Mr Hussein Zahwa said he had rescued his seven-year-old daughter as she struggled to breathe. “I went up and took them from among the rubble,” he said.

       Israel launched its offensive after almost a year of cross-border hostilities with Hezbollah. Its declared goal is to dismantle Hezbollah’s capabilities to secure the return of tens of thousands of Israelis who evacuated the north due to rockets fired by Hezbollah in solidarity with its ally Hamas as the Gaza war began more than a year ago.

       Israel’s campaign has killed 3,481 people in Lebanon since hostilities began, most since late September, the Lebanese authorities say, and uprooted more than a million people. The figures do not distinguish between combatants and civilians.

       Hezbollah strikes have killed 43 civilians in northern Israel and the Israeli-occupied 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. REUTERS