Israel's foreign minister on Sunday denied reports that Israel could soon hold direct talks with Lebanon and rejected claims it had told the United States it was running low on interceptors.
Gideon Saar © Mena Today
Israel's foreign minister on Sunday denied reports that Israel could soon hold direct talks with Lebanon and rejected claims it had told the United States it was running low on interceptors.
Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported on Saturday that Israel and Lebanon were expected to hold direct talks in the coming days. Semafor also reported that Israel had informed Washington it was running critically low on ballistic missile interceptors.
Both reports cited unnamed sources.
Asked about the weekend reports, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said: "For the two questions, the answer is no."
He also said that Israel sees "eye-to-eye" with the U.S. in the war with Iran, now in its 16th day, and that the two allies were determined to continue until their goals are achieved.
"We want to remove the existential threats from Iran for the long term. We don't want to go every year to another war," he told reporters.
Saar was speaking from a Bedouin Arab town in northern Israel near an Israeli Air Force base where homes were damaged in an Iranian missile attack last week.
Reporting by Alexander Cornwell
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he had ordered troops to move further into Lebanon in the battle against the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group, despite a ceasefire announced more than six weeks ago.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot has demanded an emergency UN Security Council meeting following Israel's seizure of Beaufort Castle in southern Lebanon, calling it a "major fault" and accusing Israel of violating international law and ceasefire commitments.
Israeli forces have reportedly taken control of Beaufort Castle, known in Arabic as Qal'at al-Shaqif, a strategically commanding hilltop fortress in the Shebaa Heights of southern Lebanon, according to reports emerging on Sunday.
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