Lebanon's prime minister asks Iran to help secure a cease-fire in Israel-Hezbollah war
Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, asked Iran to help secure a cease-fire in the war between Israel and Hezbollah
BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister on Friday asked Iran to help secure a cease-fire in the war between Israel and Hezbollah and appeared to urge it to convince the militant group to agree to a deal that could require it to pull back from the Israel-Lebanon border.
As a top adviser to Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei visited Lebanon for talks, Lebanese officials said an American proposal for a cease-fire deal had been passed on to Hezbollah, aiming to end 13 months of exchanges of fire between Israel and the group.
Iran is a main backer of Hezbollah and for decades has been funding and arming the Lebanese militant group. Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel the day after Hamas’ surprise attack into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 ignited the war in Gaza – prompting exchanges between the two sides ever since.
Since late September, Israel dramatically escalated its bombardment of Lebanon, vowing to cripple Hezbollah and end its barrages in Israel. More than 3,400 people have been killed in Lebanon by Israeli fire – 80% of them in the past month -- Lebanon’s Health Ministry says.
