CNN —
The United States and several allies on Wednesday called for a 21-day ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah across the Israeli-Lebanese border to prevent the outbreak of a regional war.
An “immediate” cross-border ceasefire would “provide space for diplomacy to conclude a diplomatic solution,” the countries said in a statement.
“The situation in Lebanon and Israel beyond October 8, 2023 is intolerable and poses an unacceptable risk of a further escalation in the region, which is in the interests of neither the Israeli nor the Lebanese people,” said the statement from the United States, Australia, Canada, European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
The proposed ceasefire would “open up space for diplomacy” and “revitalize” a stalled ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, halting the fighting and potentially releasing Israeli hostages being held in Gaza, senior administration officials argued shortly after the framework was released.
The plan was announced after Biden administration officials called it an “all-out effort by the administration” to secure a cessation of hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel amid fears the conflict could escalate into a larger regional war.
Israel and Hezbollah have not yet signed the plan, but the official said both parties were “very familiar” with the outlines of the proposal and expressed optimism that now was the right time to make it public.
The agreement will allow residents along the border to return to their homes in Israel and Lebanon, a first official said Wednesday.
A first administration official said the 21-day pause was “long enough to allow for negotiating from a practical standpoint and to reach a complex agreement during that period.”
“There’s no magic formula. It’s just something that we felt would last long enough and that the parties could agree on,” they added.
After months of struggling and so far fruitless negotiations to end the war in Gaza and free the remaining hostages, officials said they believe this latest proposal could destabilize the stalled talks.
“This gives us the time and space to pursue an agreement in Gaza and get that hostage deal that we’ve been talking about,” one of the officials said. “And if (Hamas leader Yahya) Sinwar understands that there’s not going to be a broader regional conflict, then he really has the option: get the deal done, release the hostages and there will be a fair bit of calm in Gaza.”
“The time has come to conclude a diplomatic solution to allow civilians on both sides of the border to return safely to their homes,” the two countries said in a statement. “However, diplomacy will not succeed as this conflict escalates.”
“We call on all parties, including the governments of Israel and Lebanon, to recognize an immediate and temporary ceasefire,” the statement said, citing a UN Security Council resolution calling for a cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.
“We stand ready to fully support all diplomatic efforts to build on the efforts of the past months and conclude an agreement between Lebanon and Israel within this time frame and put a complete end to this crisis,” the statement continued.
U.S. President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron issued separate statements saying the time had come to “give diplomacy a chance to succeed and avoid further escalation of cross-border tensions.”
“We now need a settlement on the Israel-Lebanon border that ensures safety and security for civilians to return to their homes,” the presidents of the United States and France said late Wednesday after emergency talks on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
“The firefighting since October 7, and particularly over the past two weeks, threatens to lead to broader conflict and civilian casualties,” the two presidents wrote. “We have therefore engaged in a joint call in recent days for a temporary ceasefire to allow diplomacy an opportunity to succeed and avoid further cross-border tensions.”
Biden and Macron called for “broad support and immediate assistance from both the Israeli and Lebanese governments.”
CNN reported early Wednesday that the United States was urgently developing a plan to broker a ceasefire as officials worried about a possible escalation of the conflict, according to three sources familiar with the matter.
U.S. officials are working with their French and other counterparts to reach a diplomatic agreement that would halt fighting along Israel’s northern border and resume a ceasefire and hostage negotiations in the Gaza Strip, according to people familiar with the matter.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told the UN Security Council on Wednesday night that France was working with the United States to secure a 21-day ceasefire to allow for negotiations, with details to be made public soon. “A diplomatic solution is certainly possible,” he said, adding that he would visit Beirut over the weekend to hold talks with stakeholders there.
The Biden administration’s efforts to broker a ceasefire began in earnest after President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, spoke by phone with Israeli official Ron Dermer on Monday, according to sources.
Biden has been discussing escalating hostilities in the Middle East with world leaders on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly this week, and the White House said he also discussed the issue with Macron on Wednesday.
The efforts come after Israel’s top commander said on Wednesday that Israeli forces were preparing for a possible ground invasion of Lebanon.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has approved his government joining the US effort, an Israeli official told CNN.
The official said Netanyahu had approved it with the understanding that any agreement must allow Israeli civilians to return to their homes in northern Israel.
Senior White House adviser Amos Hochstein was involved, the source said, adding that the US was not in direct discussions with Hezbollah.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken has been shuttling between Arab and European nations on the sidelines of the U.N. meetings in recent days working out details of a proposal to halt fighting between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, a senior State Department official said.
On Monday night, a US official told CNN that the administration is extremely close to finalizing a plan to ease tensions between Israel, Hezbollah and Hamas, but that officials are trying to keep the negotiations private as much as possible so as not to upset the sensitive talks involving multiple countries.
But officials said the focus now is on decoupling ceasefire efforts in Lebanon and Gaza. Hezbollah has long said it would stop firing rockets only if Gaza quieted, but Israel has tried to treat them as separate conflicts. The White House has also consistently maintained that a ceasefire in Gaza would lead to more, including a diplomatic agreement with Hezbollah that would allow Lebanese and Israeli civilians to return.
Concerns over the escalation have led the United States and other international officials to push for a deal to first end the escalating fighting in Lebanon and then return to stalled ceasefire efforts in Gaza.
President Biden and top national security officials have frequently expressed optimism and hope that a deal between the two sides was imminent, but it has ultimately fallen apart, and U.S. officials have said in recent days that they are unsure whether Netanyahu and Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar have the political will to agree to a ceasefire in Gaza.
A European diplomat expressed skepticism about the chances of the effort succeeding, saying “we see no reason for optimism at this point.” The diplomat added that ongoing talks were making progress but “the situation is deteriorating and escalating over time.”
The plan is likely to be the focus of discussion at an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council called by France and scheduled for later on Wednesday.
At a separate meeting of the UN Security Council early Wednesday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called for “an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah and the implementation of a political plan that allows Israeli and Lebanese civilians to return to their homes and live in peace and security.”
British officials stressed that it was time to go beyond calls for “de-escalation” and to demand an immediate halt to the fighting. They also suggested that diplomatic efforts on a ceasefire in Gaza should be separated from efforts in Lebanon to achieve an immediate ceasefire across the Blue Line.
Speaking on ABC’s daytime talk show “The View,” Biden suggested talks were underway toward a ceasefire in Lebanon that could serve as a catalyst for further peace talks elsewhere in the region.
“There are ways to make that happen and they have the potential — I don’t want to exaggerate, but they have the potential. If we can agree to a ceasefire in Lebanon, then we can move on to the West Bank. But we still have Gaza to deal with,” he said.
“But it can be done,” he said, “and I, along with my team, am working hard to make this happen. There is a desire to see change in the region.”
Blinken said in an interview Wednesday that the United States was working toward a plan to allow displaced Israelis and Lebanese to return.
“That will be done through diplomatic agreements to get troops off the border, create a safe environment and bring people back to their homes. That’s what we’re looking to achieve. There are very legitimate problems here but we don’t believe war is the solution,” he told NBC News.
CNN’s Donald Judd contributed to this report.
This story has been updated with additional developments.
