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WASHINGTON: Lebanon and Israel held new peace talks in Washington on Thursday, as their latest ceasefire — considered to still be in place despite hundreds of deaths in Israeli strikes — nears its end.
Israel’s military said it was striking Hezbollah targets in south Lebanon on Thursday after warning residents of several towns and villages there and in the country’s east to evacuate. It also said a Hezbollah drone fell in Israeli territory, wounding several civilians.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported Israeli airstrikes on the south and east, including in areas not covered by the warning, a day after the health ministry said intense raids killed 22 people, eight of them children.
One diplomat privy to the two-day talks in Washington said discussions started just after 9am at the State Department. Lebanese and Israeli representatives 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 groundbreaking agreement between the countries, which have technically been at war for decades.
