ROB SCHMITZ, HOST:
We go to the Middle East, where a possible cease-fire is in the works between Israel and Lebanon.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Both Israeli and Lebanese officials are set to hold meetings and vote on the proposal this week. Israel and Hezbollah had been fighting a low-level conflict for more than a year now. Then, in late September, Israel widened its airstrikes on Lebanon and sent in ground troops, killing most of Hezbollah's leadership and devastating the country. The U.N. estimates a quarter of Lebanon's population has been displaced.
SCHMITZ: For more on the details of the cease-fire, we're joined now by NPR's Lauren Frayer in the Lebanese capital, Beirut. Lauren, what are the terms of this proposal?
LAUREN FRAYER, BYLINE: So it's not a done deal yet, but here's what we understand. It would be an initial two-month cease-fire. Sixty days takes us to Donald Trump's inauguration. Israeli troops would withdraw from Lebanon. Hezbollah would pull its fighters and weapons north of the Litani River. That's about 20 miles from the Israeli border. The Lebanese Army would move in alongside U.N. peacekeepers who are already there. An international committee would be set up to monitor implementation of this cease-fire. Incidentally, these are basically the terms of the last cease-fire between Israel and Lebanon in 2006, which was never fully implemented.
SCHMITZ: The U.S. and Israel, of course, consider Hezbollah a terrorist group. So how do these talks work?
FRAYER: So Hezbollah is really the power broker in this country, but it is the Lebanese government that is negotiating and signing this agreement. The speaker of the Lebanese parliament is close to Hezbollah and is sort of deputized to negotiate on Hezbollah's behalf. So he's been shuttling back and forth between Hezbollah and the U.S. envoy, Amos Hochstein, who has been shuttling back and forth between Beirut and Jerusalem, which explains in part - aside from all these sensitivities - why this process is just so time-consuming.
SCHMITZ: Right. So in Washington, of course, U.S. officials have been characterizing this as close to a deal, but not quite there yet. So what are some of these stumbling blocks that we're seeing?
FRAYER: So one of them is Israel wants the freedom to attack Hezbollah if it thinks the group is violating the cease-fire by keeping weapons near the Israeli border, for example. By the way, Israeli surveillance here is intense. I don't know if you can hear me, but there's Israeli drone buzzing over the building where I am right now. If the U.S. guarantees Israel the right to strike preemptively, that could be seen here in Lebanon as a violation of this country's sovereignty and really a red line on this side. NPR spoke this morning to a Lebanese member of parliament. His name is Simon Abi Ramia.
SIMON ABI RAMIA: (Non-English language spoken).
FRAYER: He basically says no matter what the U.S. may be telling Israel on the sidelines, any such right for Israel to attack preemptively is not part of this official agreement.
SCHMITZ: And Lauren, you're there in Beirut. You mentioned the drones buzzing over your head. You know, I'm wondering how are people there that you're talking to. How are they feeling?
FRAYER: Devastated and exhausted. Lebanon and Hezbollah have paid a very dear price in this war. Nearly all of Hezbollah's leaders have been killed in Israeli attacks. More than 3,700 people killed on this side of the border since September. You know, even today airstrikes seem to be intensifying even during these negotiations. In central Beirut, we get shaken from our beds. There are huge...
SCHMITZ: Wow.
FRAYER: ...Booms constantly. There's widespread destruction. Parts of Beirut look like Gaza. But Hezbollah is still managing to fire rockets at Israel. This weekend, upwards of 250 rockets in a single day. So in that sense, Israel has failed to eliminate the threat.
SCHMITZ: That's NPR's Lauren Frayer in Beirut. Thanks, Lauren.
FRAYER: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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