Lebanon and Israel are to hold new peace talks in Washington starting Thursday, as their latest ceasefire — considered to still be in place despite hundreds of deaths in Israeli strikes — nears its end.
On the eve of the negotiations, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said that 22 people, including eight children, were killed Wednesday as Israel intensified airstrikes.
The attacks pounded about 40 locations in Lebanon’s south and east, according to the country’s state-run National News Agency (NNA).
The two nations 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 historic agreement.
Trump at the time made the bold prediction that, within the latest ceasefire period, 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 needed to be in place and Israeli attacks needed to end before such a landmark meeting.
The ceasefire, which went into effect on April 17, had been extended through Sunday.
Still, Israeli strikes have killed more than 400 people during the truce, according to a tally of figures from Lebanese authorities.
Israel has vowed to keep pursuing attacks against Hezbollah, the Shia armed group and political movement backed by Iran’s ruling clerics, despite the ceasefire.
Hezbollah began a campaign of firing into Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, at the start of the US-Israeli war on February 28.
“Anyone who threatens the State of Israel will die because of his actions,” Netanyahu said last week after an Israeli strike in the heart of Beirut killed a senior Hezbollah commander.
Iran has demanded a lasting ceasefire in Lebanon before any agreement to end the wider war, as it has frustrated Trump by refusing his appeals for an accord on his terms.
The Middle East war has spread throughout the region, roiling the global economy and impacting hundreds of millions worldwide. (AFP)
