Trump says that “the leaders” of Israel and Lebanon will speak this Thursday
The president of the United States, Donald Trump, said this morning that “the leaders” of Israel and Lebanon will speak this Thursday, in the midst of talks between the two countries to reach a ceasefire, mediated by the United States.
“We’re trying to give some breathing room between Israel and Lebanon. It’s been a long time since the two leaders have spoken, like 34 years. Tomorrow it will happen. Great!” Trump says on his Truth Social account.
This announcement, which does not specify who it refers to when speaking of “leaders,” comes after the governments of both countries had agreed to meet again to continue talking about a ceasefire to pause the Israeli attacks against Lebanon, which began after the war with Iran.
Last Tuesday, the Israeli ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, and his Lebanese counterpart, Nada Hamadeh Moawad, held a two and a half hour meeting in the presence of the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio.
State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott later said that “all parties agreed to begin direct negotiations at a mutually agreed upon date and location.”
The negotiations, from which the Shiite group Hezbollah was excluded, constituted the highest-level meeting between Israel and Lebanon since 1993. These talks take place after six weeks of clashes between Hezbollah and Israel in Lebanese territory, which have left more than 2,000 dead and more than a million displaced due to Israeli attacks and incursions, which the Government of Benjamin Netanyahu justifies by the Islamist group’s rocket fire.
Israel has refused to include Lebanon in the truce that the United States declared with Iran last week and has continued attacks on Lebanese territory, including this Tuesday, while the meeting was taking place in Washington.
The discrepancies between both delegations are great, since the Lebanese Government asks for an immediate ceasefire that allows for a broader dialogue, but Israel rejects it and demands the total disarmament of Hezbollah and the creation of a “security zone” in southern Lebanon that allows it to control the strip between the border and the Litani River. (Efe)
