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Israel and Lebanon hold fresh round of talks in US ceasefire deadline looms

Israel and Lebanon hold fresh round of talks in US ceasefire deadline looms

Southern area of Marjayoun shows flares fired by the Israeli military descending over the village of Arnoun late on May Photograph: (Credit: AFP)

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Israel and Lebanon begin a high-stakes third round of talks in Washington. With the US-backed ceasefire set to expire Sunday, can a permanent deal be reached? 

As Lebanon and Israel's latest ceasefire nears its end, the parties held a fresh round of peace talks in Washington on Thursday (May 14). Reports of hundreds being killed in Israeli strikes have surfaced despite the pause. While the military says it was targeting Hezbollah in southern Lebanon after warning residents of neighbouring villages and towns in the country’s east to evacuate. As reported by the news agency AFP, a Hezbollah drone fell in Israeli territory, leaving several civilians injured.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported Israeli airstrikes on the south and east, including in areas not covered by the warning, a day after the health ministry said intense raids killed 22 people, eight of them children.

One diplomat privy to the two-day talks in Washington said discussions started just after 9:00 am (1300 GMT) at the State Department.

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Lebanese and Israeli representatives last met on April 23 at the White House, where US President Donald Trump announced a three-week ceasefire extension and voiced optimism for a groundbreaking agreement 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 did not happen, with Aoun saying a security deal and an end to Israeli attacks were needed before such a landmark meeting.

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Hezbollah lawmaker Ali Ammar on Thursday reiterated his group's rejection of the direct talks, saying they amounted to "free concessions" to Israel. The ceasefire, which began on April 17, lasts through Sunday.

(With agency inputs)

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Prashasti Satyanand Shetty

Prashasti Satyanand Shetty covers a broad spectrum of subjects, ranging from geopolitics, global conflicts, and India's neighbourhood dynamics to the strategic operations of the In...Read More