A bomb dropped from an Israeli jet prepares to hit a building in Tayouneh, Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Nov. 15, 2024. (Hassan Ammar/AP)

BEIRUT – Lebanon’s interim prime minister on Friday asked Iran to help secure a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hezbollah, appearing to urge the country to convince the militant group to agree to a deal that could require it to withdraw from the Israel-Lebanon border .

The prime minister made the comments in talks with Ali Larijani, a top adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei. Larijani’s visit to Lebanon comes as the United States continued to press both sides to agree to a deal to end 13 months of firing between Israel and Hezbollah.

Iran is a major backer of Hezbollah and has for decades financed and armed the Lebanese militant group. Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel the day after Hamas’s surprise attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, sparked the Gaza war – prompting exchanges between the two sides ever since.

Since late September, Israel has dramatically escalated its bombardment of Lebanon, vowing to cripple Hezbollah and end its bombing of Israel. More than 3,300 people have been killed in Lebanon by Israeli fire — 80% of them in the past month — Lebanon’s health ministry says.

According to Lebanese media, US Ambassador Lisa Johnson handed a draft of a proposed ceasefire agreement to Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who has been leading the talks representing Hezbollah.

A Lebanese official confirmed that Beirut has received a copy of a draft proposal based on UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the last Israel-Hezbollah war, in the summer of 2006.

That resolution stated, among other things, that only the Lebanese army and UN peacekeeping forces would operate in southern Lebanon, meaning that Hezbollah must end its presence there. That provision was never implemented. Lebanon accuses Israel of also violating the resolution by maintaining a small, disputed border area and conducting frequent military overflights over Lebanon.

The Lebanese official did not provide details other than that Israel insisted that certain guarantees be included. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media about the ongoing talks.

The US Embassy refused to either confirm or deny the reports.

In talks with Larijani, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati called on Iran to help implement Resolution 1701. He said the Lebanese government wants the war to end and the resolution to be implemented “in every detail,” according to a statement on the talks issued at his office.

Mikati, who in recent weeks has become more critical of Iran’s role in Lebanon, also said the government wants Iran to help Lebanon’s national unity and not take a position that supports one party against another.

Iran’s support for Hezbollah has helped the group, which is the most powerful faction among Lebanon’s Shiite Muslims, dominate the country’s politics for the past decade.

After meeting with Mikati and Berri, Larijani said the main purpose of his visit was “to say loudly that we will stand by the government and people of Lebanon.”

Asked if he was trying to scuttle the US ceasefire mediation, Larijani said: “We are not trying to blow up any efforts, but we want to solve the problem and we will stand by Lebanon, regardless of the circumstances.”

Larijani held similar talks a day earlier in Syria with President Bashar Assad. Syria’s state news agency said Assad and Larijani discussed the “ongoing aggression against Palestine and Lebanon and the necessity to stop it.”

While Larijani was in Beirut, Israeli forces launched another assault on the southeastern edge of the city.

Images taken by an Associated Press photographer showed a rocket about to hit an 11-story apartment building in Beirut’s Tayouneh neighborhood — then a burst of flames erupted from the side of the building. A large portion of a lower level of the building was smashed to rubble.

There were no immediate reports of injuries. The Israeli military had issued a warning before the attack, saying it was a facility belonging to Hezbollah.

Near the eastern Lebanese city of Baalbek, rescue teams continued to search through the rubble on Friday at the site of an Israeli attack the night before that hit a civil defense center in the town of Douris.

So far, the bodies of 13 Lebanese civil defense personnel and volunteers have been recovered, the agency said, as well as some other remains that will require DNA testing.

Israel expanded its operations in Lebanon even as it continues its campaign in the Gaza Strip and vows to destroy Hamas, which is also supported by Iran.

Funerals were held on Friday for 11 Palestinians killed Thursday in a series of Israeli airstrikes in and around the city of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. Two children were among the dead, along with the other dead of an AP reporter.

On Thursday, the UN Security Council’s ten elected members circulated a draft resolution calling for “an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire” in Gaza. The United States, Israel’s closest ally, holds the key to whether the UN Security Council adopts the resolution. The four other permanent members – Russia, China, Britain and France – are expected to support or abstain from voting.

The Israel-Hamas war began after Palestinian militants stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people – mostly civilians – and kidnapping 250 others.

Israel’s bombardment and ground offensives since then have killed more than 43,000 people in Gaza, Palestinian health officials say. The officials do not distinguish between civilians and combatants but say more than half of those killed have been women and children.

Rising is reported from Bangkok. Abby Sewell in Beirut, and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations, contributed to this report.