Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has expressed hope that a joint France-US proposal for a 21-day ceasefire between Israel and Shiite militia group Hezbollah could put an end to the conflict. “France stood by our side in the darkest circumstances, the best proof being the efforts France is making today in collaboration with the United States in order to issue a joint communique that enjoys international support and which would put an end to this dirty war,” Mikati told the Security Council in New York. The premier warned of the conflict’s potential to become “an all out regional …