Wael Sabbagh, whose mother Afaf Sidaoui and brother Hassan, were killed in an Israeli strike on an apartment building on April 8, stands at the strike site in Tallet El Khayat in Beirut, Lebanon, April 15, 2026. JIHED ABIDELLAOUI / REUTERS
US President Donald Trump has said that leaders of Israel and Lebanon will speak on Thursday, April 16, as Washington pushes to ease hostilities after the rivals' first direct talks in decades.
Lebanon was pulled into the Middle East war on March 2 after pro-Tehran group Hezbollah attacked Israel. Since then, Israeli strikes have killed more than 2,000 people and displaced more than one million in Lebanon, despite international calls for a ceasefire, and Israeli ground forces have invaded the country's south.
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