Israel to begin direct negotiations with Lebanon, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu says, even as strikes continue following disputes over the US-Iran ceasefire terms. [Getty]
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday he has instructed ministers to begin peace talks with Lebanon “as soon as possible”, hours after the Israeli military ordered the evacuation of swathes of southern Beirut ahead of a new wave of airstrikes.
“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.”
Israeli journalist Hallel Bitton Rosen quoted an unnamed Israeli official as saying that “negotiations will take place under fire at this moment, as preparations are underway for continued strikes.”
The discussions will be led by Israeli Ambassador to Washington, Yechiel Leiter, alongside Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun, the official said.
There was no immediate response from the Lebanese government or Hezbollah to Netanyahu’s remarks.
An hour before Netanyahu’s statement, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said that direct negotiations with Israel were the “only solution” to the country’s predicament.
This comes a day after Israeli warplanes killed more than 200 people across Lebanon in what was the heaviest bombardment yet during its six-week war with Hezbollah.
Israel escalated its attacks across Lebanon on 2 March after Hezbollah renewed cross-border fire in response to the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Israeli strikes have since killed around 1,700 people and uprooted more than a million people, according to Lebanese authorities.
Earlier on Thursday, the Israeli military ordered hundreds of thousands of people living in Beirut’s southern suburbs to flee ahead of a new wave of attacks.
At least 400 Hezbollah fighters have been killed, according to sources familiar with the group, which has fired hundreds of rockets and drones into Israel.
