Indirect talks to end the fighting between Israel and the Hezbollah militia in southern Lebanon are to begin soon, according to Lebanon’s state news agency NNA.
Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati announced on Tuesday that the talks would begin during the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which is expected to begin around March 10, NNA reported.
Lebanese officials were examining a proposal by U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein, an advisor to President Joe Biden.
Hochstein was in Beirut for talks on Monday, which focused on diplomatic efforts to calm the hostilities between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel.
Since the beginning of the Gaza war following the attacks on Israel by Hezbollah-aligned Palestinian extremist group Hamas and other militant groups in Israel on Oct. 7.
There have been repeated attacks by both sides across the Israeli-Lebanese border region.
There have also been casualties on both sides.
Tens of thousands of residents in both countries have left their homes because of the fighting.
On Tuesday, there was again heavy rocket fire from Lebanon towards Israel, the Israeli military announced in the evening.
Israel then attacked Hezbollah militia launch sites.
Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant recently announced that he would increase military pressure on Hezbollah in response to its daily attacks on Israel until the militia had withdrawn from the border.
The Iranian-backed Shiite militia has established itself in the buffer zone that was established in the border area in southern Lebanon after the end of the Second Lebanon War in 2006.
From there it repeatedly fires on northern Israel.
Israel wanted to use diplomatic pressure to ensure that the militia withdrew behind the Litani River, 30 kilometres from the border as stipulated by UN Resolution 1701.
However, Gallant recently warned that Israel is also prepared to launch a large military operation if necessary.
Diplomats fear that this could spark a major escalation of tensions in the region.