BEIRUT: Lebanon and Israel will open the third round of preliminary negotiations on Thursday in Washington under US sponsorship.
Weeks of political and diplomatic maneuvering by Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun, channeled through American interlocutors, have failed to firmly lock in a stable truce.
The ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, first reached during last month’s inaugural preliminary session and later extended by three weeks, had been set by Beirut as a non-negotiable precondition before any substantive talks could begin.
The two-day round will see former ambassador Simon Karam join the Lebanese delegation for the first time. Karam had originally been designated by the presidency to lead Lebanon’s team at previous talks that collapsed after Hezbollah fired six rockets toward Israel on March 2 — an attack that reignited the war on the southern front.
An official Lebanese source told Arab News that the talks would open with one priority: cementing the truce. “Each side has its files and will lay them on the table,” the source said. “We will see where things land.”
