BEIRUT/OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: US mediators are working on a proposal to halt hostilities between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, starting with a 60-day ceasefire, two sources said on Wednesday, but Israel pressed its offensive, ordering residents to evacuate Lebanon’s eastern city of Baalbek.

The sources - a person briefed on the talks and a senior diplomat working on Lebanon - told Reuters the two-month period would be used to finalise full implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, adopted in 2006 to keep southern Lebanon free of arms outside state control.

The latest effort comes as Israel’s operation against Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon continues to expand. Its army on Wednesday issued a first evacuation order for Baalbek, where tens of thousands of mostly Shi’ite Muslim Lebanese, including many who had fled other areas, were residing.

Such notices are usually followed by bombardment, and governor Bachir Khodr called on residents to evacuate to the north.

Bilal Raad, the regional head of the Lebanese civil defense, said the largely volunteer force had been calling on residents to leave via megaphones after receiving phone calls from someone identifying themselves as being from the Israeli military.