US Official: The First Day of Lebanese-Israeli Talks is Positive

SadaNews - An American official stated that the Lebanese-Israeli talks held on Thursday, aimed at stopping the war and determining the future of relations between the two sides as the fragile ceasefire approaches its end, were "positive" and will continue as planned for a second day.

A senior official from the U.S. State Department said, "We had fruitful and positive discussions throughout the day, lasting from 9 AM to 5 PM (13:00-21:00 GMT). We look forward to continuing these conversations tomorrow, and we hope to have more to share."

A new round of talks between Lebanon and Israel began in Washington yesterday Thursday, and a diplomat familiar with the two-day discussions stated that both sides started discussions shortly after 9 AM local time (13:00 GMT) at the U.S. State Department.

In turn, the Israeli news site "Ynet" reported, citing an Israeli source, that the meeting is taking place in the U.S. State Department building, adding that negotiations will continue until Friday.

Before the negotiations began, Israel renewed its strikes on southern Lebanon on Thursday, announcing the targeting of "infrastructure" belonging to Hezbollah "in several areas," after issuing evacuation warnings for several towns and villages.

Negotiations began after two rounds of talks at the ambassadorial level between the two countries in Washington. The most recent round took place on April 23 at the White House, where U.S. President Donald Trump announced a three-week extension of the ceasefire, expressing optimism about reaching a historic agreement.

In a bold prediction, Trump stated at that time that he would host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in Washington during the extended ceasefire period ending Sunday, to hold the first historic summit between the two sides; however, the summit did not take place, as the Lebanese president insisted on ending the Israeli attacks and reaching a security agreement before holding the meeting.

Since the ceasefire took effect on April 17, Israeli airstrikes have resulted in the martyrdom of more than 400 individuals.

The scope of the war in the Middle East has widened to Lebanon after Hezbollah launched rockets toward Israel on March 2 in response to the assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani on the first day of U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, to which Israel responded with intensive airstrikes and a ground invasion in the south, leading to the displacement of over a million people.

Since the start of the war, the Lebanese Ministry of Health has reported at least 2,896 martyrs and 8,824 other injuries, according to a toll published on Wednesday.