The Israeli-Lebanese ceasefire, which was due to expire on Sunday, “will be extended by 45 days to allow further progress”, announced American diplomacy after a new session of direct negotiations between representatives of Israel and Lebanon on Thursday and Friday. The US State Department said it would organize a new round of discussions on June 2 and 3. Until then, the Pentagon will bring together military delegations from both countries on May 29.
Continuation of diplomatic discussions
Israel’s ambassador to Washington, Yechiel Leiter, said after the talks that it would be essential to guarantee his country’s security. “There will be ups and downs, but the chances of success are great,” he wrote on the X network. The Lebanese delegation for its part welcomed an extension which opens the way “to lasting stability”, but insisted on the need for a “staged and verifiable process”, supported by Washington.
Speaking from Lebanon, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam accused pro-Iranian Hezbollah of dragging the country into a new “irresponsible” war. “Enough of these irresponsible adventures serving foreign projects or interests,” he said, calling for the support of Arab countries, and more broadly of the international community, in negotiations with Israel.
Despite the entry into force of a ceasefire on April 17, Israel continues its strikes in Lebanon, saying it is targeting Hezbollah, and the Shiite movement continues to fire rockets at Israeli positions. Lebanon announced the death of six people, including three rescuers from the Islamic Health Committee, affiliated with Hezbollah, in an Israeli bombardment in the south of the country. More than 400 people have died in Israeli strikes in Lebanon since the start of the truce, according to a count based on official figures.
Intensification of military operations
At the time of the discussions in Washington on Friday, the Israeli army issued evacuation orders for around ten sectors in southern Lebanon and announced “to carry out strikes against Hezbollah infrastructure in the Tyre region”. “There are only women, children and the elderly here. This strike is causing further displacement of people,” Hafez Ramadan, who lives near the building targeted by the strike, which he said mainly housed displaced people, told AFP. The strikes in Tire left 37 injured, including six hospital medical staff, four children and nine women, according to the Health Ministry.
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for drone attacks against barracks in northern Israel, as well as others against Israeli forces positioned in several Lebanese border communities. The Israeli army is deployed in this area to be able, according to it, to protect the population of northern Israel from fire from the pro-Iranian movement. Israel, like the United States, calls on Beirut to disarm Hezbollah. “Lebanon is negotiating for a future in which its borders will be respected (and) its sovereignty ensured only” by its army, also underlined the Lebanese delegation in Washington. One of the senior figures in the pro-Iranian movement, Mahmoud Qomati, described the negotiations with Israel as “humiliating” and denounced “a plot against the country.”
Developments in the Strait of Hormuz
On the Tehran side, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, visiting India, said he was open to help from China to end the conflict, the day after Donald Trump’s comments in Beijing, according to which his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping had offered to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz. “We know that (the) Chinese have good intentions. Any initiative on their part likely to support diplomacy would therefore be welcome,” declared Abbas Araghchi.
