Israel and Lebanon hold a new round of talks in Washington on Thursday, during which Beirut plans to request a one-month extension of a ceasefire due to expiry within days.
Israel stated ahead of the talks that it has no serious disagreements with Lebanon, calling on it to work together against the pro-Iran Hezbollah, which is notably opposed to the negotiations.
The two countries, officially at war for decades, held a meeting in Washington on 14 April, the first of its kind since 1993, in an attempt to put an end to the more than six-week war between Hezbollah and Israel.
The United States announced a 10-day truce shortly after the first meeting, and it is due to expire on Sunday.
Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed at least 2,454 people and displaced one million since the start of the war, according to Lebanese authorities.
As in the previous round, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will bring together Israeli ambassador Yechiel Leiter and Lebanese ambassador Nada Hamadeh Moawad in the presence of the US ambassador to Lebanon, Michel Issa.
Israeli strikes killed five people in Lebanon on Wednesday as Israel continues to hit what it says are Hezbollah targets despite the ceasefire.
Under the truce terms, Israel said it reserved the right to act against planned, imminent, or ongoing attacks.
Lebanon’s civil defence agency said that an Israeli strike killed journalist Amal Khalil on Wednesday.
Before rescuers had found her body, Lebanon’s state media reported Israeli strikes had killed four people in the south and east of the country.
In Washington, Lebanon will request an extension of the truce for one month, an end of Israel’s bombing and destruction in the areas where it is present, and a commitment to the ceasefire, a Lebanese official told.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, for his part, said on Wednesday that “contacts are underway to extend the ceasefire period”.
Following the first round of talks, Lebanon and Israel had agreed to begin direct negotiations with a view to lasting peace, at a date and place to be determined later.
Lebanon has appointed Simon Karam, a seasoned diplomat and former ambassador to the US, to lead its delegation in these negotiations.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Wednesday that Israel does not have any serious disagreements with Lebanon.
“The obstacle to peace and normalisation between the countries is Hezbollah,” Saar said.
Hezbollah launched rockets towards Israel on 2 March to avenge the US-Israeli killing of Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei. Israel has responded with massive air raids and an invasion of southern Lebanon.
Israeli forces remain in dozens of southern villages, behind what the army has called a ‘Yellow Line’, described by the Israelis as a 10-kilometre-deep ‘security zone’ along the border in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah, for its part, said that it had carried out an attack on northern Israel on Tuesday in response to Israel’s flagrant violations of the ceasefire.
Tehran had demanded the truce as a condition for resuming talks with Washington to end the regional Middle East war.
US President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday an indefinite extension of the truce between the two countries that has been in effect since 8 April.
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