Iran backs Lebanon in ceasefire talks as Israel intensifies strikes

Iran will back any decision taken by Lebanon in talks to secure a ceasefire with Israel, a senior Iranian official has said, signalling Tehran wants to see an end to a conflict that has dealt heavy blows to its Lebanese ally Hezbollah.

Ali Larijani, an advisor to Iran’s supreme leader, spoke during a visit to Beirut as Israel kept up its intensified bombardment of Hezbollah-controlled areas of the Lebanese capital.

Israel has stepped up airstrikes against the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs – an escalation that has coincided with indications of movement in US-led diplomatic contacts towards ending the conflict.

The US ambassador to Lebanon submitted a draft truce proposal on Thursday to Lebanon’s parliament speaker Nabih Berri, who is endorsed by Hezbollah in negotiations, two senior Lebanese political sources told Reuters.

The draft was Washington’s first written proposal to halt fighting between its ally Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah in at least several weeks, the sources said. They did not provide details about the contents of the proposal.

Speaking to reporters after meeting Mr Berri, Mr Larijani said Mr Berri had provided him with “good clarifications”.

“We are not looking to sabotage anything,” Mr Larijani said, responding to a reporter who asked whether he had come to Beirut to wreck the American draft.

“We are after a solution to the problems. We support in all circumstances the Lebanese government. Those who are disrupting are Netanyahu and his people,” Mr Larijani said, referring to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Hezbollah was founded by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in 1982, and has been armed and financed by Tehran.

A senior diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that more time was needed to agree a ceasefire but was hopeful it could be achieved.

The diplomacy marks a last-ditch attempt by the outgoing US administration to secure a Lebanon ceasefire, as efforts to end the war in Gaza appear totally adrift.

One major sticking point is Israel’s demand to retain freedom to act should Hezbollah violate any agreement, a demand Lebanon has rejected.

Israel launched its offensive against Hezbollah after almost a year of cross-border hostilities ignited by the Gaza war, declaring it wanted to secure the return home of tens of thousands of people forced to evacuate from northern Israel.

Israel’s campaign has forced more than one million people to flee their homes in Lebanon, igniting a humanitarian crisis.

It has dealt Hezbollah serious blows, killing its leader Hassan Nasrallah and other commanders, using airstrikes to pound areas of Lebanon where Hezbollah has political and military sway, and sending troops into the south.

Hezbollah has kept up rocket attacks into Israel and its fighters have been battling Israeli troops in the south.

On Friday, Israeli airstrikes flattened five more buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs known as Dahiyeh. One of them was located near one of Beirut’s busiest traffic junctions, Tayouneh.

The sound of an incoming missile could be heard in footage showing the airstrike near Tayouneh. The targeted building turned into a cloud of rubble and debris which billowed into the adjacent Horsh Beirut, the city’s main park.

The Israeli military said its fighter jets attacked munitions warehouses, a headquarters and other Hezbollah infrastructure. Ahead of the latest airstrikes, the Israeli military issued a warning on social media identifying targeted buildings.

The European Union strongly condemned the killing of 12 paramedics in an Israeli strike near Baalbek in the Bekaa Valley on Thursday, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said.

“Attacks on healthcare workers and facilities are a grave violation of international humanitarian law,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

On Thursday, Eli Cohen, Israel’s energy minister and a member of its security cabinet, told Reuters that prospects for a ceasefire were the most promising since the conflict began.

The Washington Post reported that Mr Netanyahu was rushing to advance a Lebanon ceasefire with the aim of delivering an early foreign policy win to US president-elect Donald Trump, who is expected to be strongly pro-Israel.

According to Lebanon’s health ministry, Israeli attacks have killed at least 3,386 in the wake of the Hamas attack inside Israel on 7 October that triggered the war inside Gaza. The vast majority of those casualties have died since late September. The ministry does not distinguish between civilian casualties and fighters.

Hezbollah attacks have killed about 100 civilians and soldiers in northern Israel, the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and southern Lebanon over the past year, according to Israel.

Reuters