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Hezbollah ready to cease fire if Lebanon is included into peace initiatives on Gaza — TV

According to the source, Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri informed Qatar and Egypt that Hezbollah has agreed to "divide fronts" and implement UN Security Council resolution 1701 on condition that the problem of settling the conflict in Lebanon is part of the peace initiatives of the Gaza Strip

BEIRUT, October 27. /TASS/. Hezbollah is ready to implement UN Security Council resolution 1701 envisaging a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon in case the Lebanese dossier is included into peace initiatives on the Gaza Strip, the LBC television channel said, citing a diplomatic source.

According to the source, Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri informed Qatar and Egypt that Hezbollah has agreed to "divide fronts" and implement UN Security Council resolution 1701 on condition that the problem of settling the conflict in Lebanon is part of the peace initiatives of the Gaza Strip.

The source said that ways to settle the confrontation between Hezbollah and Israel had been discussed in Doha, where delegates from Qatar, the United States, and Israel discussed the settlement of the situation in Palestinian enclave on Sunday. Egyptian and Qatari officials are expected to meet with Hamas and a high-ranking Qatari delegation is to visit Beirut to specify Lebanon’s positions, the source said.

The meeting in Doha "has made a breach in the wall of difficulties," the source said, adding that the consultations on Gaza have yielded "a slight progress," which indicates Israel and Hamas’ readiness to exchange hostages held in the enclave and Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons.

Another round of escalation between Israel and Hezbollah flared up amid the conflict in the Gaza Strip following a series of explosions of Hezbollah pages and walkie-talkies in Lebanon on September 17 and 18. Hezbollah placed responsibility for the blasts on Israel, which refrained from commenting on these incidents, only warning that it is intensifying combat operations in northern areas.

Israel has been delivering massive airstrikes on Hezbollah military targets in Lebanon since September 23, when it launched Operation Northern Arrows. Israel’s declared goal is to create safe conditions in the country’s northern areas so that tens of thousands of local residents could return to their homes. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was reportedly killed in Israel’s strike on Beirut on September 27. In the early hours of October 1, Israel announced the launch of a ground operation in Lebanon’s border areas.