Lebanon Presses Israel for Ceasefire in Washington Talks as Israeli Strikes Continue

Lebanon and Israel held new peace talks in Washington on Thursday as their latest ceasefire, which began on April 17, nears its end and is considered to still be in place despite hundreds of deaths in Israeli strikes.

“play videoplay video Video Duration 28 minutes 00 seconds play-arrow28:00 As Israeli attacks on Lebanon continue, Hezbollah opposes ceasefire talks in Washington”

Al Jazeera

Israel’s military said it was striking Hezbollah targets in south Lebanon on Thursday after warning residents of several towns and villages there and in the country’s east to evacuate, and Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported Israeli airstrikes on the south and east, including in areas not covered by the warning.

Al Jazeera

The NDTV report said a day after the health ministry said intense raids killed 22 people, eight of them children, a diplomat privy to the two-day talks in Washington said discussions started just after 9:00 am (1300 GMT) at the State Department.

The talks were the third round between the two countries, which have no diplomatic relations, and the NDTV report said the summit Trump predicted did not happen because Joseph Aoun said a security deal and an end to Israeli attacks were needed before such a landmark meeting.

Hezbollah lawmaker Ali Ammar reiterated the group’s rejection of the direct talks, saying they amounted to "free concessions" to Israel, while the NDTV report said the ceasefire lasts through Sunday even as Israeli strikes have killed more than 400 people during the truce, according to an AFP tally of health ministry figures.

A senior State Department official told the South China Morning Post, "We had a full day of productive and positive talks," as the US hailed “positive talks” on Thursday and expected more to say on Friday.

Arab News

The South China Morning Post said the truce ends on Sunday if it is not extended, and that violence again flared as the two governments met in Washington.

The NDTV report also quoted a Lebanese official telling AFP on condition of anonymity that the country would seek "the consolidation of the ceasefire" during the talks, adding that "The first thing is to put an end to the death and destruction."

The NDTV report said the United States believes "comprehensive peace is contingent on the full restoration of Lebanese state authority and the complete disarmament of Hezbollah," and it described the talks as aiming to break from an approach that allowed terrorist groups to entrench and enrich themselves.

It also said Israel has vowed to keep pursuing attacks against Hezbollah, the Shia armed group and political movement backed by Iran’s ruling clerics, and it tied Hezbollah’s role in Lebanon to rocket fire at Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes days earlier.

The NDTV report stated that Israeli attacks since March 2 have killed more than 2,800 people in Lebanon, including at least 200 children, according to Lebanese authorities, while Hezbollah says the toll includes its fighters.

In parallel, the South China Morning Post said Israel continued to launch air strikes it says are targeting Hezbollah, and it framed the immediate diplomatic test as whether the truce is extended before it ends on Sunday.