‘Productive and positive’ talks between Lebanon and Israel in US as killing continues

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Jarjouaa - despite a so-called ceasefire. Photo / AFP

The United States on Thursday sought to extend a shaky ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon that has killed hundreds in strikes from both sides.

The US wants movement towards a permanent end to hostilities as a ceasefire - considered to still be in place despite the violence - ends on Sunday.

Israel has pounded Lebanon and invaded its south in response to retaliatory fire from Shia movement Hezbollah following Israel’s killing of Iran’s supreme leader at the start of the war on February 28.

Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors held the first of two days of talks at the State Department in Washington, with Israel bringing along military officers.

A senior State Department official claimed “a full day of productive and positive talks”, and a Lebanese official said that the country would seek “the consolidation of the ceasefire”, adding: “The first thing is to put an end to the death and destruction”.

The two sides last met on April 23 at the White House, where Trump announced a three-week ceasefire extension between the countries, which have technically been at war for decades.

Trump at the time made the bold prediction that during the three-week extension he would welcome Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun to Washington for a historic first summit between the countries.

The summit has not happened, with Aoun saying a security deal and an end to Israeli attacks were needed before such a landmark meeting.

Israel has vowed to keep pursuing attacks against Hezbollah. The Israeli military said on Thursday that it struck more than 65 Hezbollah sites across Lebanon.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported Israeli airstrikes on the south and east on Thursday, including on areas not mentioned in an earlier Israeli evacuation warning.

Hezbollah said it targeted Israeli troops in northern Israel with a drone. The Israeli military said several Israeli civilians were injured and evacuated for medical treatment.

Hezbollah lawmaker Ali Ammar denounced the talks in Washington, calling them “free concessions” to Israel.

Iran, the patron of Hezbollah, has made a lasting ceasefire in Lebanon a condition for any agreement to end the wider war, further frustrating Trump by refusing his appeals for an accord on his terms.

- AFP