NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� France鈥檚 foreign minister said Wednesday that his country and the United States are working on a proposal for a 21-day cease-fire proposal 鈥渢o allow for negotiations鈥� in the that has killed more than 600 people in Lebanon in recent days.
Jean-No毛l Barrot told the U.N. Security Council during a meeting about the conflict that the proposal would be released shortly. 鈥淲e are counting on both parties to accept it without delay,鈥� he said.
Barrot said France and the U.S. had consulted with the sides on 鈥渇inal parameters for a diplomatic way out of this crisis,鈥� adding that 鈥渨ar is not unavoidable.鈥�
Earlier Wednesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. administration was "intensely engaged with a number of partners to and to work to get a cease-fire agreement that would have so many benefits for all concerned.鈥�
Blinken and other advisers to President Joe Biden have spent the past three days at and on the sidelines of the annual U.N. General Assembly meeting of world leaders in New York lobbying other countries to support the plan, according to U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic conversations.
Americans hope such a cease-fire could lead to between Israel and Lebanon. Months of Israeli and Hezbollah exchanges of fire across the border drove tens of thousands of people from their homes on both sides of the border, and escalated attacks this week have rekindled fears of a broader war in the Middle East.
Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan and senior advisers Brett McGurk and Amos Hochstein have been meeting with Middle East allies in New York and have been in touch with Israeli officials about the proposal, one of the U.S. officials said. McGurk and Hochstein have been the White House鈥檚 chief interlocutors with Israel and Lebanon since , another .
An Israeli official said Netanyahu has given the green light to pursue a possible deal, but only if it includes the return of Israeli civilians to their homes. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing behind-the-scenes diplomacy.
A Lebanese official called them 鈥渧ery serious efforts,鈥� and when asked about the possibility of a halt in the fighting taking effect Thursday, he said it was "not wishful thinking."
Hezbollah has maintained that it will not halt its fire until there's a truce in Gaza. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to share details with the media, said Lebanon still does not accept separating the fronts in the Palestinian territory and Lebanon but would not say if or how the proposal might deal with Gaza.
Earlier Wednesday, warned in an appearance on ABC鈥檚 鈥淭he View鈥� that 鈥渁n all-out war is possible鈥� but thinks the opportunity also exists 鈥渢o have a settlement that can fundamentally change the whole region.鈥�
Biden suggested that getting Israel and Hezbollah to agree to a cease-fire could help achieve a cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. That war is approaching the one-year mark after Hamas raids in southern Israel on Oct. 7 killed about 1,200 people. Israel responded with an offensive that has since killed more than 41,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials, who do not provide a breakdown of civilians and fighters in their count.
鈥淚t's possible and I'm using every bit of energy I have with my team 鈥� to get this done,鈥� Biden said. 鈥淭here's a desire to see change in the region.鈥�
The U.S. and other international mediators have to broker a cease-fire in Gaza that also would release hostages held by Hamas.
The U.S. government also raised the pressure with additional sanctions Wednesday targeting more than a dozen ships and other entities it says were involved in illicit shipments of Iranian petroleum for the financial benefit of Iran鈥檚 Revolutionary Guard and Hezbollah.
Meanwhile, the chief of Israel's army said Wednesday that the military is preparing for a possible ground operation in Lebanon as Hezbollah hurled dozens of projectiles into Israel, including a missile aimed at Tel Aviv that was deepest strike yet.
Blinken has been urging both Israel and Hezbollah to step back from their intensifying conflict, saying that all-out war would be disastrous for the region and that escalation was not the way to get people back to their homes on the Israel-Lebanon border.
鈥淚t would be through a diplomatic agreement that has forces pulled back from the border, create a secure environment, people return home,鈥� Blinken told NBC News. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what we鈥檙e driving toward because while there鈥檚 a very legitimate issue here, we don鈥檛 think that war is the solution.鈥�
France has called a special U.N. Security Council meeting on Lebanon for later Wednesday at which the U.S. proposal may be discussed.
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AP reporters Zeke Miller and Darlene Superville in Washington, Josef Federman in Jerusalem and Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed.
Aamer Madhani, Matthew Lee And Jennifer Peltz, The Associated Press
