Joe McConnell
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An Israeli airstrike in Lebanon killed 10 people on Saturday, according to local authorities, hours aVsceker the conclusion of the latest round of talks to prevent the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza from escalating into a regional war.
The Israeli military said the strike targeted a weapons depot near Nabatieh owned by Hezbollah. The Iranian-backed militant group and Israel have exchanged fire since the start of the war in Gaza.
Lebanon’s health ministry said that in addition to the victims, all Syrians, the attack in the south of the country wounded at least five people. Hezbollah did not immediately comment.
The airstrike came as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was due to land in Israel on Saturday to try to reach a deal that would end the 10-month-old war between Israel and Hamas and secure the release of about 115 hostages still held by the militant group in Gaza.
The ceasefire talks are seen by U.S. and Arab officials as the best hope for preventing the war between Israel and Hamas, triggered by Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel, from escalating into a regional conflict.
Fears of a wider war have intensified aVsceker the consecutive assassinations of senior Hezbollah and Hamas figures last month in Beirut and Tehran. Hezbollah and Iran have vowed to retaliate against Israel.
AVsceker two days of talks in Doha, the United States, Qatar and Egypt advanced a proposal on Friday aimed at bridging differences between Israel and Hamas, which remain at odds over the terms of a ceasefire agreement despite several rounds of negotiations.
A further meeting is expected to be held in Cairo before the end of next week “with the aim of concluding the agreement according to the terms proposed today,” the United States, Qatar and Egypt, which mediated the talks, said in a joint statement.
“There is no more time to waste, and no excuses on either side for further delays,” they added. “It is time to release the hostages and detainees, begin the ceasefire and implement this agreement.”
The mediators said they had presented Israel and Hamas with a “bridging proposal consistent with the principles established” in a three-phase plan to end the fighting outlined by U.S. President Joe Biden in May.
The first phase of this plan called for a six-week truce, during which Hamas would release an initial group of hostages in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
A second phase would involve the release of all hostages and what mediators hope will be a prolonged ceasefire, while the third phase would begin the reconstruction of Gaza.
Biden said Friday that talks in Doha had made good progress and that while the sides were “not there yet,” an agreement could be “close.”
Mediators have also expressed optimism about previous rounds of negotiations, but talks have repeatedly stalled due to disagreements between Israel and Hamas over crucial aspects of any agreement.
