Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that he has given an instruction for Israel to begin peace talks with Lebanon that would also include the disarming of Hezbollah.
Benjamin Netanyahu © Mena Today
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that he has given an instruction for Israel to begin peace talks with Lebanon that would also include the disarming of Hezbollah.
"In light of Lebanon's repeated requests to open direct negotiations with Israel, I instructed the cabinet yesterday to start direct negotiations with Lebanon as soon as possible," Netanyahu said in a statement. "The negotiations will focus on disarming Hezbollah and establishing peaceful relations between Israel and Lebanon."
There was no immediate response from the Lebanese government to Netanyahu's remarks.
An hour before Netanyahu’s statement, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said that “the only solution to the situation in Lebanon is to achieve a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, followed by direct negotiations between them.”
He said he was working on a diplomatic track on this matter that was starting to be seen “positively” by international actors.
Israel launched a renewed offensive against Hezbollah after the Iran-backed militia began firing at Israel on March 2. Israeli strikes have killed around 1,700 people and uprooted more than a million people, according to Lebanese authorities.
At least 400 Hezbollah fighters have been killed, according to sources familiar with the group, which has fired hundreds of rockets and drones at Israel.
Reporting by Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem and Maya Gebeily in Beirut
The United States delivered a pointed assessment at the UN Security Council Thursday, accusing the Assad regime of having "permitted or turned a blind eye" to Hezbollah's activities and captagon trafficking networks, allowing the Iran-backed group to "sow destruction in Syria and across the region."
Israel and Lebanon agreed to a 45-day extension of a ceasefire that has tamped down the conflict between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, as two days of talks facilitated by Washington concluded on Friday with an agreement to hold further meetings in the coming weeks.
"This year we will not be at Eurovision, but we will do so with the conviction of being on the right side of history."
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