Lebanon will demand Israel cease fire at face-to-face talks in Washington on Thursday, a senior Lebanese official said, as Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel continued to trade blows despite a U.S.-backed truce declared last month.
The talks between Lebanese and Israeli envoys will mark the sides’ third meeting since hostilities reignited between Hezbollah and Israel on March 2.
Beirut is attending despite strong objections from Shi’ite Muslim Hezbollah.
Fought in parallel to the U.S.-Iran conflict, the Hezbollah-Israel war has rumbled on since U.S. President Donald Trump declared a ceasefire on April 16, though the hostilities have largely been contained to southern Lebanon.
The ceasefire is due to expire on Sunday.
With Lebanon’s health ministry reporting 22 people killed in Israeli strikes on Wednesday, including eight children, the senior Lebanese official said the Lebanese delegation would seek “a ceasefire that Israel implements.”
The Israeli military confirmed an explosive drone launched by Hezbollah fell within Israeli territory near the border, injuring several civilians.
Strikes Continue On Both Sides
Israel has kept troops in a self-declared security zone in south Lebanon, saying this aims to shield northern Israel from Hezbollah attack.
The Israeli military said it carried out a new wave of attacks on Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon on Thursday.
Hezbollah said it carried out 17 attacks on Israeli troops in the south on Wednesday.
Broader Delegations, Higher Stakes
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun’s decision to pursue the talks reflects deep divisions in Lebanon over Hezbollah, founded by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in 1982.
The Beirut government has sought its disarmament since last year.
When the April 16 ceasefire was announced, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hezbollah’s disarmament would be a fundamental demand in peace talks with Lebanon.
The Washington meetings mark the highest-level contact between Lebanon and Israel in decades. Both sides are broadening their delegations for this round, after being represented by their ambassadors in the previous two meetings.
Lebanese Presidential Special Envoy Simon Karam and Israel’s Deputy National Security Adviser Yossi Draznin will participate, alongside senior Israeli military representatives.
The talks are due on Thursday and Friday.
Washington At The Centre
The U.S.-led mediation between Lebanon and Israel has emerged in parallel to diplomacy aimed at ending the U.S.-Iran conflict.
Iran has said ending the Lebanon war is one of its demands for a deal over the wider conflict. Trump hosted the last meeting between the ambassadors at the Oval Office, expressing hope the countries would reach a peace deal this year.
Aoun later said the timing was not right for a meeting with Netanyahu, and that Lebanon must first secure “a security agreement and a halt to the Israeli attacks, before we raise the issue of a meeting between us.”
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, in a May 10 interview, said Lebanon’s principles were shoring up the ceasefire, securing a timetable for Israeli withdrawal, and winning the release of Lebanese prisoners held by Israel.
The Human Cost
Lebanon’s health ministry says the war has killed 2,896 people since March 2, including 589 women, children and medics.
Some 1.2 million people have been driven from their homes, many fleeing from the south.
Israel says 17 of its soldiers have been killed in southern Lebanon, along with two civilians in northern Israel.
(with inputs from Reuters)
