WASHINGTON — Former Lebanese intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim says the negotiators are closer than ever to reaching a cease-fire between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah. 

Ibrahim, who headed Lebanon’s General Security Directorate from 2011 to 2023, said he expects Israel to ramp up its air-and-ground operations in the small Mediterranean country before agreeing to a diplomatic solution to end the more than year-long conflict. 

“I have plenty of hope it will take place next month,” Ibrahim told Al-Monitor in a phone interview. He pointed to the Israeli army’s exhaustion after more than 13 months of fighting in the Gaza Strip and also credited the momentum in the negotiations to President-elect Donald Trump’s stated desire for the war to end before he takes office. 

Ibrahim’s wide-ranging contacts, including with Iran-backed Hezbollah and the Syrian government, as well as close ties to Western countries gained him a reputation as a go-to interlocutor in the region. He has mediated the release of hostages in the Middle East including Americans held in Syria and was involved in the US-brokered maritime demarcation agreement between Israel and Lebanon in 2020.