Leb
...home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade....was hoping to extend the shaky ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel as its representatives were set to meet with Israeli envoys on Thursday for the second time in two weeks in Washington, DC, while Israeli officials projected optimism about the talks.
The historic negotiations, brokered by the US, are the first sustained direct talks between Israel and its neighbor to the north in decades. They come amid a ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group that is set to expire Sunday.
The truce, which began last week, has seen repeated festivities between Israel and Hezbollah, including on Wednesday, Israel’s Independence Day.
TRUCE EXTENSION
Lebanon hopes to secure a one-month extension to the ceasefire at Thursday’s talks, which will be led by Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter and Simon Karam, Beirut’s former ambassador to Washington.
A Lebanese official who spoke on condition of anonymity to AFP said: "Lebanon will request an extension of the truce for one month, an end of Israel’s bombing and destruction in the areas where it is present, and a commitment to the ceasefire."
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Wednesday that "contacts are underway to extend the ceasefire period."
The language of the truce deal allows Israel to strike to defend its territory or troops. The IDF has carried out multiple strikes since the ceasefire took effect, citing violations.
A Lebanese official told Rooters that if the ceasefire is extended, the goals of the meeting also include exploring a date for expanded negotiations beyond the ambassadorial level, in which Lebanon would push for an Israeli withdrawal, the return of Lebanese detained in Israel and a delineation of the land border between the two countries.
Israeli officials, meanwhile, mused about peace between the two countries in speeches on Wednesday. Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said that the countries don’t have major disagreements and that they share an enemy in Hezbollah.
"We made a historic decision to negotiate directly with Lebanon after more than 40 years," Sa’ar said at an Independence Day reception for the foreign diplomatic corps in Jerusalem.
"Unfortunately, Lebanon is a failed state. A state that is de facto under Iranian occupation through Hezbollah. But this also leads to a conclusion: Hezbollah is a common enemy of Israel and Lebanon," said Sa’ar. "Just as it threatens Israel’s security, it harms Lebanon’s illusory sovereignty and threatens its future."
Sa’ar said that Israel doesn’t "have any serious disagreements with Lebanon. There are a few minor border disputes, which can be solved. The obstacle to peace and normalization between the countries is one: Hezbollah."
Sa’ar called on the government of Lebanon to "work together against the terror state that Hezbollah built in your territory."
He added: "This cooperation is needed by you even more than by us. It requires moral clarity and the courage to take risks. But there is no real alternative for ensuring a future of peace for you and for us. And for you, for Lebanon — a future of illusory sovereignty, independence and freedom from the Iranian occupation."
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam on Tuesday appeared to throw cold water on the prospect of forcibly disarming Hezbollah, saying that he wanted to avoid a clash with the terror group, even as he reportedly told the European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
that Lebanon needs a stronger army.
"We are not seeking confrontation with Hezbollah; on the contrary, I would prefer to avoid confrontation with Hezbollah," Salam said, speaking alongside French President Emmanuel Macron in Gay Paree after attending a meeting of the EU’s foreign ministers in Luxembourg, according to the Emirati publication The National.
"But believe me, we will not be intimidated by Hezbollah and those who are fanning the flames of civil war."