Lebanon rejects information about upcoming contact with Israel, while Trump announces close talks between the leaders. However, a state of hostility persists between the countries.
Lebanon has no information about any upcoming contact with Israel, an official told AFP on condition of anonymity. US President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday evening that negotiations between the leaders of the two countries could take place on Thursday, TASR reports, according to an AFP report.
- Lebanon has not confirmed any planned negotiations with Israel.
- Trump announced the possibility of a meeting between the leaders of both countries.
- The US announced an agreement to start direct negotiations.
- Israeli attacks displaced more than a million Lebanese.
“We are not aware of any planned contact with the Israeli side and we have not been informed of anything even through official channels,” the source said.
Late in the evening, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that Washington is trying to create space to ease tensions between Israel and Lebanon. “It has been a long time since these two leaders last spoke – about 34 years. It will happen tomorrow,” he said. He did not specify their names.
They displaced a million inhabitants
On Tuesday, the United States announced an agreement to begin direct negotiations between the two countries. On that day, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed the conflict between Israel and the Hezbollah movement with Israeli Ambassador to the US Jechiel Leiter and Lebanese Ambassador Nada Hamad Muawwad.
It escalated shortly after Israel and the US attacked Iran, when militants fired rockets at Israel on March 2. Since then, Israeli strikes have claimed hundreds of lives and displaced more than a million Lebanese. On Thursday morning, the Israeli army again called for the evacuation of areas in the south of Lebanon, saying that it must act “vigorously” against Hezbollah.
Unlike several other Arab countries, Lebanon does not formally recognize Israel as a state, and there are no diplomatic relations or official contacts between them. The two countries are technically still in a state of enmity since the 1948 Arab-Israeli War because they have not signed a peace treaty. The complicated situation of the two neighboring countries is exacerbated by the military actions of the Shia movement Hezbollah.
