US to host Lebanon-Israeli talks
NEW DELHI [Maha Media]: U.S. President Donald Trump will greet Lebanese and Israeli envoys at the White House on Thursday as they meet for a second round of U.S.-facilitated talks, with Beirut seeking to extend a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, a day after Israeli strikes killed at least five people including a journalist.
The ceasefire, reached after talks between the two nations’ ambassadors to Washington last week and set to expire on Sunday, has yielded a significant reduction in violence. Attacks have continued in southern Lebanon, however, where Israeli troops have seized a self-declared buffer zone.
Iran-backed Hezbollah says it has “the right to resist” occupying forces.
A U.S. official said Thursday’s talks, initially set to be hosted by the State Department, were being moved to the White House and that Trump would greet the ambassadors upon their arrival.
“It’s a sign of the importance that they are being given and the priority. I think there’s a feeling of optimism that the ball can move forward,” a separate source briefed on the matter said.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said on Thursday that Lebanon’s ambassador to the U.S., Nada Moawad, would seek a ceasefire extension and a halt to demolitions by Israel in villages in the south.
Recent contacts with Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio had focused on halting escalation and launching negotiations aimed at ending the state of war, securing Israel’s withdrawal from occupied territory and deploying the Lebanese army to the international border, the Lebanese presidency said in a statement.
