(Delete the superfluous word “to” in the first paragraph)

By Laïla Bassam

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanon and Hezbollah have accepted a U.S. proposal for a ceasefire with Israel, with few comments on the content, a senior Lebanese official told Reuters on Monday, calling the effort the most serious until present to end the fighting.

Ali Hassan Khalil, aide to Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, said Lebanon delivered its written response to the US ambassador to Lebanon on Monday and White House envoy Amos Hochstein was traveling to Beirut to continue the negotiations.

There was no immediate comment from Israel.

Hezbollah, a heavily armed movement backed by Iran, backed its longtime ally Berri to broker a ceasefire.

“Lebanon presented its comments on the newspaper in a positive atmosphere,” Khalil said, declining to give further details. “All the comments we have presented affirm precise adherence to (UN) Resolution 1701 with all its provisions,” he said.

He was referring to UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended a previous war between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006.

Its terms require that Hezbollah have no armed presence in the area between the Lebanese-Israeli border and the Litani River, which flows about 30 km (20 miles) north of the border.

Khalil said the success of the initiative now depends on Israel, adding that if Israel does not want a solution, “it could create 100 problems.”

Israel has long claimed that Resolution 1701 was never properly implemented, pointing to the presence of Hezbollah fighters and weapons along the border. Lebanon has accused Israel of violations, including flights of warplanes into its airspace.

Khalil said Israel was trying to negotiate “under fire”, a reference to an escalation of its bombing of Beirut and Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs. “This will not affect our position,” he said.

(This story has been refiled to remove an unnecessary word in paragraph 1)

(Writing by Tom Perry; editing by Cynthia Osterman)