Israel Ambassador to U.S. Yechiel Leiter, right, departs after a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, Lebanon Ambassador to the U.S. and Israel Ambassador to the U.S., at the White House in Washington, DC, April 23. AFP-Yonhap

WASHINGTON/BEIRUT/JERUSALEM — The ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel was extended for three weeks after a high-level meeting at the White House, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday.

Trump hosted Israel's ambassador to Washington Yechiel Leiter and Lebanese ambassador to the U.S. Nada Moawad in the Oval Office for a second round of U.S.-facilitated talks, a day after Israeli strikes killed at least five people including a journalist.

"The Meeting went very well! The United States is going to work with Lebanon in order to help it protect itself from Hezbollah," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Trump added that he looked forward to hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in the near future.

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. Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa also attended the meeting.

Lebanon Ambassador to the U.S. Nada Hamadeh Moawad departs after a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, Lebanon Ambassador to the U.S. and Israel Ambassador to the U.S., at the White House in Washington, DC, April 23. AFP-Yonhap

The Israeli military said on Thursday that it killed two armed individuals in southern Lebanon after identifying them approaching soldiers and posing what it described as an immediate threat.

It was not immediately clear whether the incident was related to strikes reported earlier in nearby areas by Lebanon's health ministry, which said an Israeli air strike had killed three people and artillery shelling wounded two others, including a child.

Source: Korea Times News