Lebanon to press Israel to cease fire at Washington talks, Lebanese official says
The talks between Lebanese and Israeli envoys will mark the sides' third meeting since hostilities reignited between Hezbollah and Israel on 2 March.
Lebanon will demand Israel cease fire at face-to-face talks in Washington today (14 May), a senior Lebanese official said, as Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel continued to trade blows despite a US-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 2 March. Beirut is attending despite strong objections from Shi'ite Muslim Hezbollah.
An Israeli government spokesperson said the talks were taking place with the goal of disarming Hezbollah and reaching a peace agreement.
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Fought in parallel to the US-Iran conflict, the Hezbollah-Israel war has rumbled on since US President Donald Trump declared a ceasefire on 16 April - though hostilities have largely been contained to southern Lebanon since then.
The ceasefire is due to expire on Sunday (17 May).
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 said an explosive drone launched by Hezbollah fell within Israeli territory near the border and injured several Israeli civilians.
Israel has kept troops in a self-declared security zone in south Lebanon, saying this aims to shield northern Israel from attack by Hezbollah, which fired hundreds of rockets and drones at Israel during the war.
The Israeli military said it carried out a new wave of attacks on Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon today.
Hezbollah said it carried out 17 attacks on Israeli troops in the south on Wednesday (13 May).
Lebanon, Israel broaden delegations
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun's, opens new tab 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 16 April 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 Lebanon and Israel are broadening their delegations for this round, after the sides were represented by their ambassadors to Washington in the previous two meetings.
Lebanese Presidential Special Envoy Simon Karam and Israel's Deputy National Security Adviser Yossi Draznin will participate in the talks, as well as senior Israeli military representatives, a State Department official said.
The talks are due to take place today and tomorrow (15 May), the State Department has said.
The US-led mediation between Lebanon and Israel has emerged in parallel to diplomacy aimed at ending the US-Iran conflict.
Iran has said that ending the war in Lebanon, triggered by Hezbollah when it opened fire in support of Tehran on 2 March, is one of its demands for a deal over the wider conflict.
