Third round of Israel-Lebanon talks open in Washington

Jerusalem, May 14 Israeli and Lebanese officials began a third round of peace talks in Washington on Thursday, an Israeli government official told a news agency.

The talks are expected to continue on Friday, though it was unclear whether the sides were close enough to make progress, Xinhua news agency reported.

The negotiations are being held at the US State Department, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Israel is represented by its ambassador to Washington, Yechiel Leiter, and senior security officials, while Lebanon's delegation includes its ambassador to Washington, Nada Hamadeh Mouawad, and former Lebanese Ambassador to the United States Simon Karam.

According to the Israeli official, the talks are being held to disarm Hezbollah and reach an agreement to form official ties with Lebanon.

Israel wants to preserve freedom to carry out air and ground operations against Hezbollah until an agreement is reached, while Lebanon is demanding an Israeli withdrawal from its territory, a halt to Israeli strikes and an end to the destruction of villages near the border.

The current round of fighting began on March 2, as Hezbollah fired rockets towards Israel.

On April 24, US President Donald Trump announced a three-week extension of the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, describing it as a “historic” step and signalling possible direct talks between the two sides in Washington.

The development followed an Oval Office meeting attended by senior officials from both countries, including Lebanese Ambassador to the United States Nada Hamadeh Moawad and Israeli Ambassador Yechiel Leiter.

On April 26, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu ordered the Israel Defence Forces to vigorously attack Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, said the Government Press Office of Israel.​

The Israel Defence Force has been reporting aerial targets regularly launching from Lebanon towards Israel. They also reported several rocket launching sites being destroyed and Hezbollah infrastructure being targeted by the IDF and the Israel Air Force.

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