Washington (AP) — President Donald Trump said Israel and Lebanon have agreed to extend a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah by three weeks after talks at the White House on Thursday.
Trump said the meeting between the ambassadors of Israel and Lebanon to the United States went “very well.” The meeting was the second high-level talks between the two countries since last week. The initial 10-day ceasefire, which took effect last Friday, had been due to expire on Monday.
“The United States is going to work with Lebanon in order to help it protect itself from Hezbollah,” Trump said in a social media post. He added that he is looking forward to meeting in person with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun “in the near future..”
Trump greeted Lebanese Ambassador to the U.S. Nada Hamadeh Moawad and her Israeli counterpart Yechiel Leiter on their arrival. In addition to Trump, the U.S. was represented by Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, State Department Counsellor Michael Needham, Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa.
Aoun said on Wednesday that Hamadeh would put forward an extension of the 10-day ceasefire. She also would ask for an end to Israeli home demolitions in villages and towns occupied by Israel after the latest war broke out on March 2, Aoun said in comments released by his office.
Preparations are being made for wider-reaching negotiations between Lebanon and Israel. The aim of the future talks is to “fully” stop Israeli attacks, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon, release of Lebanese prisoners held in Israel, deployment of Lebanese troops along the border and beginning the reconstruction process, Aoun said.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has called on Lebanon to work with Israel to disarm the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah.
“We don’t have any serious disagreements with Lebanon. There are a few minor border disputes that can be solved,” Saar said during Independence Day remarks to Israel’s ambassadors and diplomatic corps in which he also described the neighboring country as a “failed state.”
“The obstacle to peace and normalization between the countries is one: Hezbollah,” he said, adding that Lebanon could have “a future of sovereignty, independence and freedom from the Iranian occupation.”
The latest war started when Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel, two days after Israel and the U.S. launched attacks on Iran. Israel responded with widespread bombardment of Lebanon and a ground invasion in which it captured dozens of towns and villages along the border.
Source: WPLG
