Negotiations for a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah have made significant progress in the last 24 hours but the Biden administration hasn't reached a final agreement with either Israel or Lebanon, two U.S. officials with direct knowledge of the issue told U.S. news portal Axios.
A U.S. official said Biden adviser Amos Hochstein's mediation trip to Beirut last week made progress towards a deal, especially around Hezbollah's willingness to cut a deal with Israel separate from the war in Gaza.
The U.S. official said that since Hochstein returned intense negotiations with both Israel and Lebanon made more progress.
"We are still negotiating but enough progress was made in the last 24 hours that justified President Biden sending Hochstein to Israel," the U.S. official said.
Hochstein traveled to Israel on Wednesday with the White House Middle East adviser Brett McGurk. Before leaving, Hochstein spoke to caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati.
Mikati said in an interview on Al-Jadeed television that Hochstein told him "the situation today is better than yesterday."
"We hope that within hours or in the coming days there will be a ceasefire. We hope to see Hochstein in Beirut by the end of the week," Mikati said.
Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides said after a meeting with Biden at the White House on Wednesday that he thinks a ceasefire deal in Lebanon can be reached "within a week or two weeks."
Israel's public broadcaster Kan published on Wednesday a draft of the ceasefire agreement dated Oct. 26.
The draft agreement includes a commitment by both Israel and the Lebanese government to take steps towards full implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 that ended the 2006 war in Lebanon.