An Israeli strike killed two people in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, Lebanon’s state news agency reported, and Hizbullah said it launched an attack drone at Israeli forces in the south, further straining a ceasefire between the Iran-backed group and Israel.
On the eve of talks on Thursday in Washington between Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors, Lebanese president Joseph Aoun said Beirut would seek an extension of the 10-day, US-mediated ceasefire, which is set to expire on Sunday.
Hostilities between Hizbullah and Israel reignited on March 2nd, when the Lebanese group opened fire in support of Iran.
The ceasefire in Lebanon emerged separately from Washington’s efforts to resolve its conflict with Tehran, though Iran had called for Lebanon to be included in any broader truce. The United States has denied any link.
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Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said the Israeli strike hit a car in al-Tiri, a village in south Lebanon, killing two people inside. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Hizbullah said it attacked an Israeli artillery position in southern Lebanon with a drone, in response to what it said was an Israeli violation of the ceasefire. The Israeli military said it had intercepted “a hostile aircraft” launched by Hizbullah towards Israeli soldiers in south Lebanon.
More than 2,400 people have been killed in Lebanon since Israel launched an offensive in response to Hizbullah’s March 2nd attack, according to Lebanese authorities. Israel has seized a belt of territory at the border where its troops remain, saying it aims to create a buffer zone to shield northern Israel from attacks by Hizbullah, which fired hundreds of rockets at Israel during the conflict.
Aoun said Beirut’s envoy to Thursday’s talks, Lebanese ambassador to Washington Nada Moawad, would seek a ceasefire extension and a halt to demolitions being carried out by Israel in villages in the south, according to a statement.
A Lebanese official said Beirut wants a ceasefire extension as a prerequisite for talks to expand beyond the ambassadorial level to the next phase, in which Lebanon would push for an Israeli withdrawal, the return of Lebanese detained in Israel and a delineation of the land border.
Hizbullah, which says the Lebanon ceasefire was the fruit of Iranian pressure, has condemned Beirut for seeking talks with Israel, reflecting wider splits with the government that has sought Hizbullah’s peaceful disarmament for a year.
Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar, in a speech, said Israel had taken a “historic decision to negotiate directly with Lebanon after more than 40 years” while also calling it a “failed state”.
“I call on the government of Lebanon: Let’s work together against the terror state that Hizbullah built in your territory. This co-operation is needed by you even more than by us,” he said.
The Israeli military said it had killed two militants who had crossed its “Forward Defense Line” in south Lebanon on Tuesday and approached Israeli soldiers, saying they had violated the ceasefire.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio is set to attend Thursday’s meeting. Israel will be represented by its ambassador to Washington Yechiel Leiter.
Aoun has cited goals including halting Israeli attacks on Lebanon and securing the withdrawal of Israeli troops. In a speech on Friday, he said a ceasefire should be transformed into “permanent agreements that preserve the rights of our people, the unity of our land, and the sovereignty of our nation”.
Announcing the ceasefire on April 16th, US president Donald Trump said he had instructed Rubio, vice-president JD Vance and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine to work with the two countries to achieve lasting peace.
Lebanon and Israel have remained in an official state of war since the establishment of Israel in 1948. – Reuters
