The US State Department will host a meeting between representatives of Israel and Lebanon to discuss a ceasefire between the two countries, a department official told Radio Liberty on condition of anonymity.
The meeting will take place next week.
The previous night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel wants direct talks with Lebanon “as soon as possible.”
Netanyahu’s announcement came a day after heavy Israeli strikes on Lebanon, where the Iranian-backed Hezbollah (approved terrorist in the US) group is based, killed more than 200 people and threatened to derail Iran’s cease-and-desist agreement.
“Given Lebanon’s repeated requests for direct talks with Israel, I instructed the cabinet yesterday to begin direct talks with Lebanon as soon as possible,” the Israeli prime minister said.The talks will focus on disarming Hezbollah “and establishing peaceful relations between Israel and Lebanon.”
Before that, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said that “the only solution to the situation in Lebanon is to achieve a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon and then direct negotiations between them.”
Reuters quoted an unnamed Lebanese senior official as saying that Lebanon had been pushing for a temporary truce over the past day to allow for broader talks with Israel. The official said no date or place had been set and that Lebanon needed the U.S. as a mediator and guarantor of any agreement.
Netanyahu in March rejected a proposal for direct talks with Lebanon. His new announcement came amid widespread international criticism of the Israeli strikes, which Tehran says violate a ceasefire agreement the US and Iran reached on the night of 8 April. The US and Israel argue that the agreement does not apply to Lebanon.