Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati says he feels optimistic for a potential Hezbollah-Israel ceasefire to be struck “within the next few hours or days,” after speaking with US envoy Amos Hochstein, who is expected to be in the region on Thursday.
“We are doing our best and are optimistic that within the next few hours or days we will have a ceasefire,” Mikati said Wednesday in an interview with Lebanese media outlet, Al Jadeed.
“[Hochstein’s] mere movement is a sign of hope. We hope that it will be translated into a ceasefire, and we will see him before the end of the week in Beirut,” Mikati also said.
CNN has reached out to Hochstein’s office for comment.
Hochstein and fellow White House official Brett McGurk will be in Israel Thursday for discussions about Lebanon, Gaza, Iran, the hostages and “other regional matters,” a US official previously told CNN. Separately, CIA Director Bill Burns is expected to be in Cairo.
Israel and the White House had earlier downplayed a reported ceasefire draft proposal circulating in Israeli media. “There are many reports and drafts circulating. None reflect the current state of negotiations,” the Israeli prime minister’s office (PMO) said in a statement to CNN.
The White House gave the same message, with National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett telling CNN that purported drafts shared online do not reflect the current state of ceasefire talks.
