US tries to broker ceasefire after civilians killed in Lebanon and Israel | Lebanon

Senior U.S. officials have held talks in Israel to broker a ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon, on a day when more civilians were killed in both countries in the years-long war.

Lebanon's acting Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who earlier Thursday expressed optimism about a quick solution “in hours or days,” said Israel's “continued escalation” in his country “does not inspire optimism.”

The country's health ministry said Israeli attacks had killed 45 people in the past 24 hours, with bombings in the northeastern Bekaa Valley and infantry battles in the south. Eight people from the same family were killed in a village in Bekaa.

Rocket fire from Lebanon killed seven people in northern Israel, including four Thai farm workers. These were the worst civilian casualties in Israel in a single day since ground attacks on Lebanon began on October 1.

Israel issued its second evacuation order for the town of Baalbek and two surrounding villages in the Bekaa Valley on Thursday afternoon and carried out a series of airstrikes on the village of Durous a few hours later. The evacuation orders had led to a mass exodus of residents from the city, which is home to a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Despite the evacuation order and the threat of Israeli bombing, some residents remained behind. In Bednayel, a village on the outskirts of Baalbek, rescuers pulled a body from the rubble of a collapsed building that had been leveled in an Israeli airstrike the night before. Eight people from the same family were killed in the strike.

“The whole village shook. I came here and pulled my brother out of the rubble. I pulled out parts of him,” said Fadi, a 30-year-old gaming cafe owner whose home was destroyed and his family killed in the airstrike.

He rejected talk of a lull in fighting between Hezbollah and Israel, saying: “We don't want a ceasefire, we want to pray at Al-Aqsa Mosque (in Jerusalem).” I want revenge, from the person who dropped the missile, to the one who gave the order, (Benjamin) Netanyahu.”

The bombing and evacuation order also affected operations at the nearby Dar Al Amal hospital, which lies on the very edge of Israel's designated operational area in Baalbek. Of the hospital's usual 700 employees, only 350 remain and the rest will be laid off, according to hospital director Ali Allam. Three nurses were killed in Israeli airstrikes last month while off duty.

Two senior U.S. envoys, Amos Hochstein and Brett McGurk, met Netanyahu in his office on Thursday to discuss a ceasefire proposal for Lebanon. Later, Netanyahu's office said the prime minister “thanked our American friends for their efforts” but “made it clear that this is not about this or that agreement on paper, but about Israel's ability and determination to enforce the agreement and any threat.” “To fend off security from Lebanon in a way that returns our residents safely to their homes.”

According to Israeli state broadcaster Kan, the deal proposed by the US is similar to the deal that ended the last war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006. Israel would withdraw its forces from Lebanon within the first week of the agreement. The Lebanese army would be deployed along the border, while Hezbollah would end its armed presence in the south.

Israel would still have the right to target Hezbollah in self-defense and take measures to ensure that Hezbollah does not regroup in the south, while Israeli aircraft would still be able to conduct aerial reconnaissance over Lebanon. It is far from clear that such conditions would be unacceptable to either the Lebanese government or Hezbollah.

Hezbollah's attack on Israel on Thursday came in two main salvos, the first in the morning when rocket fire hit fields around the northern town of Metula, near the Lebanese border. The area has been evacuated, but farmers are still allowed to work their land during the day, mostly with migrant workers. Four of the five victims of the Metula barrage were Thai migrant workers and the fifth was an Israeli farmer.

A few hours later, a second salvo of 25 rockets hit an olive grove near Haifa where people had gathered for the harvest. Israeli health authorities said a 30-year-old man and a 60-year-old woman were killed.

According to the Palestinian authorities, three people were killed in an Israeli attack in the West Bank. The Israeli army said it targeted militants in the Nur Shams refugee camp in the West Bank city of Tulkarem and killed a Hamas militant who was involved in planning attacks.

A senior Hamas official told Agence France-Presse that the group rejects any proposal for a temporary ceasefire with Israel, an idea that was reportedly floated during talks in Doha over the weekend. The group insisted on a permanent ceasefire and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.