As the Israeli army continues its strikes on Lebanon, President Donald Trump asserts that the two countries should start negotiations this Thursday, April 16th. Information of which Lebanon claims not to have been aware.
The “leaders” of Israel and Lebanon will talk this Thursday, April 16th, stated American President Donald Trump on Wednesday night, after direct discussions this week between the two countries.
This announcement comes as Israel and Hezbollah have been at war since March 2nd. The pro-Iranian Lebanese movement claimed several drone attacks targeting military positions in northern Israel on Thursday morning.
“We are trying to create a bit of a pause between Israel and Lebanon. The two leaders have not spoken for a long time, about 34 years. It will happen tomorrow,” wrote Donald Trump on his Truth Social network without specifying, however, which leaders he was referring to.
On the contrary, an official source told AFP that Lebanon was unaware of this meeting. “We are not aware of any planned contact with the Israeli side and we have not been informed through official channels,” this source affirmed.
“Establishing a lasting peace”
Earlier, a senior American official had indicated that the American president would consider “welcome the end of hostilities in Lebanon” with a peace agreement with Israel.
However, it was also specified that this potential agreement was not part of the negotiations between the United States and Iran aiming to achieve a lasting end to the conflict in the Middle East, triggered on February 28th by an Israeli-American attack against Iran. A ceasefire has been in place since April 8th.
“The United States wants to see a lasting peace established, but has not demanded an immediate ceasefire” between Israel and Hezbollah, this official informed the press, speaking anonymously.
Israel and Lebanon agreed on Tuesday to start direct negotiations following discussions between the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to the United States, the first of its kind since 1993. The Lebanese ambassador, Nada Hamadeh Moawad, called for a ceasefire in Lebanon during the meeting, something that Israel has so far rejected.
Hezbollah, which dragged Lebanon into the war in early March after attacking Israel in retaliation for the Israeli-American offensive against Tehran, denounced the discussions between the two countries, calling them a “surrender”. Since early March, Israeli strikes on Lebanon have killed more than 2,000 people and displaced one million.
