Lebanese and Israeli leaders to speak, Trump says
US President Donald Trump said Lebanese and Israeli leaders were preparing to speak for the first time in decades, while Pakistan said peace in Lebanon was essential for talks mediated between Washington and Tehran on ending the Iran war.
The Lebanon conflict emerged from the US-Israeli war with Iran, when Iran-backed Hezbollah opened fire in support of Tehran on March 2, leading to Israel’s attack on Lebanon just 15 months after the previous major conflict.
Israel’s security cabinet met late Wednesday to discuss a possible ceasefire in Lebanon.
“Peace in Lebanon is essential for (Iran) peace talks,” Pakistan’s foreign ministry said on Thursday. he said.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he was “trying to create some breathing room” between Israel and Lebanon.
“It’s been a long time since the two leaders spoke, like 34 years. This will happen tomorrow. Good!” Trump wrote.
No further details were provided in the post.
Israeli security cabinet member Gila Gamliel told Israel Army Radio that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “will speak for the first time with the Lebanese president, with whom there has been no contact between the two countries for many years.”
A senior Lebanese official told Reuters that Lebanon had no information about the meeting between Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Netanyahu.
The Lebanese government has been at sharp odds with Hezbollah over its decision to go to war, having spent the past year ensuring the peaceful disarmament of the group founded by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard in 1982.
Washington expressed optimism on Wednesday about reaching a deal to end the war with Iran.
The parties reached an agreement on a two-week ceasefire in the Iran war on April 8, following Pakistan’s mediation.
Although Israel and the USA said that the campaign against Hezbollah was not part of the ceasefire, the Pakistani prime minister said that the ceasefire would also include Lebanon, as Iran requested.
Netanyahu’s government is under heavy pressure from Washington to achieve a ceasefire in Lebanon, a senior Israeli official and a senior Lebanese official said on Wednesday.
Netanyahu said the Israeli army continues to attack Hezbollah and is about to “overwhelm” the border town of Bint Jbeil in southern Lebanon.
The senior Lebanese official said Lebanon’s assessment was that Israel wanted to achieve a victory in Bint Jbeil before diplomatic progress could be made.
Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors held rare talks in Washington on Tuesday.
Iran has said Lebanon must be included in any agreement to end the broader war in the Middle East, while Washington has pushed back, saying there is no link between the two negotiating groups.
Hezbollah on Wednesday condemned Tuesday’s meeting in Washington, saying it would deepen discord among the Lebanese.
