(26 Nov 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Fiuggi, Italy – 26 November 2024
++STARTS ON SOUNDBITE++
1. SOUNDBITE (English) Antony Blinken, US Secretary of State:
"We’re in the final stages of securing a ceasefire agreement for Lebanon. We’re not there yet, but I believe we are in the final stages. This has been an intensive diplomatic effort by the United States, partners like France working with Israel, working with Lebanon over many months. And if we get to the conclusion that I hope we reach very soon, it will make a big difference. It will make a big difference in saving lives and livelihoods in Lebanon and in Israel. It will make a big difference in creating the conditions that will allow people to return to their homes safely in northern Israel and in southern Lebanon. And I also believe that by de-escalating tensions in the region, it can also help us to end the conflict in Gaza. In particular, Hamas will know that it can’t count on other fronts opening up in the war. So we’re tracking this very closely. And I hope and believe that we can get this over the finish line."
++ENDS ON SOUNDBITE++
STORYLINE:
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday said a ceasefire agreement was in the "final stages" between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
"I hope and believe that we can get this over the finish line," Blinken said at a briefing following a Group of Seven meeting in the Italian city of Fiuggi, outside Rome.
He said the deal would make a "big difference" in saving lives and livelihoods in Lebanon and in Israel, adding that "by de-escalating tensions in the region, it can also help us to end the conflict in Gaza."
Earlier, foreign ministers from the world’s leading industrialized countries threw their strong support behind an immediate ceasefire.
The G7 meeting, the last of the Biden administration, was dominated by the wars in Gaza and Lebanon.
Ministers, however, sidestepped a key question after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Israel’s leader over the war in Gaza.
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