The US official overseeing contacts to secure a ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed Hizbullah in Lebanon is due to visit Beirut on Tuesday, sources said, with Beirut expected give its response to a US truce proposal.
The US-led ceasefire diplomacy has come back into focus as Israel has been stepping up its offensive.
The new US truce proposal was delivered last week to Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri, who has been endorsed by Hizbullah to negotiate.
White House envoy Amos Hochstein was expected in Beirut on Tuesday for talks on the ceasefire, a Lebanese political source told Reuters. Lebanese media outlet Voice of Lebanon also reported the visit, citing Lebanese lawmaker Kassem Hashem, who is part of Berri's parliamentary bloc.
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World powers say a Lebanon ceasefire must be based on UN Security Council Resolution 1701 which ended a 2006 war between Hizbullah and Israel. Its terms require Hizbullah to move weapons and fighters north of the Litani river, some 20km (30 miles) north of the border.
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The diplomacy has been complicated by an Israeli demand for the freedom to act should Hizbullah violate any agreement, which Lebanon has rejected.
Israel launched its offensive after almost a year of cross-Border hostilities with Hizbullah. Its declared goal is to secure the return home of tens of thousands of Israelis forced to evacuate the north due to rocket fire from Hizbullah, which opened fire in solidarity with its ally Hamas as the Gaza war got under way more than a year ago.
The Israeli campaign has uprooted more than one million people in Lebanon. Israel has dealt Hizbullah heavy blows, using air strikes to pummel wide areas of Lebanon and sending ground forces into the south. - Reuters
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