Israel: Progress in ceasefire talks with Lebanon, Russia to play a role

Israel said on Monday there had been progress in ceasefire talks with Lebanon, saying Russia could play a role in preventing Hezbollah from rearming through Syria. But Hezbollah says it has not received any new cease-fire proposals.

Speaking in Jerusalem, Israeli Foreign Minister David Sall said the war against Hezbollah was not over. He said any ceasefire would face challenges at the implementation level, despite some progress in the talks.

Saar said Israel is working with the United States to reach a cease-fire agreement. He said Israel wanted Hezbollah to be located north of the Litani River and unable to rearm. The fundamental principle of any ceasefire agreement must be that Hezbollah cannot bring weapons from Syria into Lebanon.

"As you know, the Russians are in Syria. If they agree to that principle, I think they can effectively contribute to that goal."

Russia sent troops into Syria's civil war nearly a decade ago to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Hezbollah has also sent fighters to help Mr Assad. Syria is widely believed to be the main conduit through which Iran supplies weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

"Major changes are taking place between Washington, Moscow, Tehran and some capitals," Hezbollah official Khalid Afif said in Beirut.

"We've heard a lot of talk, but as far as I know, there hasn't been any official agreement on this so far, it's in the stage of sounding out and putting forward initial ideas," he told a news conference.

Israel Hayom reported on Sunday that substantial progress had been made in diplomatic talks on a Lebanese ceasefire proposal that would require Hezbollah to withdraw north of the Litani River and prohibit its deployment near the Israeli border, while the IDF would return to the international border.

In a sign of progress, Israel's top-selling newspaper Yediot Ahronot reported Monday that Israel and Lebanon had exchanged drafts through U.S. envoy Hockstein.

The Lebanese government, including Hezbollah, has repeatedly called for a ceasefire if UN Security Council resolution 1701 is fully implemented. This resolution demands that the area south of the Litani River be free of any weapons other than Lebanese state weapons. Lebanon and Israel have accused each other of violating the resolution.