WASHINGTON/BEIRUT/JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Lebanon will demand Israel ceasefire at face-to-face talks that began in Washington on Thursday, a senior Lebanese official said, as Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel continued to trade blows despite a US-backed truce declared last month.
A State Department official confirmed that a meeting of Lebanese and Israeli envoys, along with US officials, had started at about 9 a.m. EDT (1300 GMT).
The talks, which are expected to continue on Friday, are the sides’ third meeting since hostilities reignited between Hezbollah and Israel on March 2. Beirut is attending despite strong objections from Shiite Muslim Hezbollah.
An Israeli government spokesperson said the talks were taking place with the goal of disarming Hezbollah and reaching a peace agreement.
Fought in parallel to the US-Iran conflict, the Hezbollah-Israel war has rumbled on since US President Donald Trump declared a ceasefire on April 16 — though hostilities have largely been contained to southern Lebanon since then.
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 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 on Thursday.
Hezbollah said it carried out 17 attacks on Israeli troops in the south on Wednesday.
