Officials from Israel, Lebanon to hold talks

WASHINGTON/BEIRUT — Israel and Lebanon are expected to hold their second ambassador-level talks at the US State Department in Washington, DC, on Thursday, US media reported on Tuesday.

Israel and Lebanon will again be represented by their ambassadors to the United States, Yechiel Leiter and Nada Hamadeh Moawad, respectively.

A 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon came into effect at midnight between Thursday and Friday, following weeks of intensified cross-border fighting amid the US-Israeli strikes on Iran.

The truce has remained fragile as tensions along Lebanon's southern border continue. Lebanon's official National News Agency reported that Israeli forces escalated operations across southern Lebanon at dawn on Tuesday, carrying out widespread demolitions, stepping up aerial surveillance, and issuing evacuation warnings despite the ceasefire.

Israel and Lebanon have no formal diplomatic relations. The party negotiating with Israel is the Lebanese government, not Hezbollah.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday that Israel must "renounce its territorial ambitions" in Lebanon, calling for a political settlement to ensure regional stability. Speaking at a news conference after meeting with visiting Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, Macron urged a "political agreement" between Israel and Lebanon to guarantee security for both countries, safeguard Lebanon's territorial integrity, and pave the way for normalized relations.

For his part, Salam reiterated Lebanon's demand for a "complete withdrawal" of Israeli forces from its territory, along with the return of Lebanese prisoners and displaced people.

Salam also said, "Lebanon needs 500 million euros ($587 million) to tackle the humanitarian crisis over the next six months."

Lebanon on Tuesday raised the toll from six weeks of fighting to 2,454 dead and 7,658 wounded since the conflict began on March 2, days after the broader Middle East conflict erupted.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah said it launched rockets and attack drones at an Israeli artillery position in the settlement of Kfar Giladi on Tuesday evening, marking an escalation despite an ongoing ceasefire.

The group said in a statement that the attack targeted the source of recent Israeli artillery fire toward the Lebanese town of Yahmar al-Shaqif, describing the strike as a response to what it called repeated Israeli violations of the ceasefire since it took effect.

The Israeli military said it struck the launcher from which the rockets were fired, and that sirens in northern Israel were likely sounded after the interception of a drone launched from Lebanon.

The Israeli military did not respond to a question on whether Hezbollah's announced attack was the same as the one the Israeli military had announced earlier, Reuters reported.

Xinhua - Agencies