Lebanon-Israel talks at the White House: What you need to know
The United States "to work with Lebanon in order to help it protect itself from Hezbollah," Donald Trump said.
by L'Orient Today staff · L'Orient TodayBEIRUT — The second round of direct talks between the Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors in Washington on Thursday resulted in a three-week extension of the cease-fire, U.S. President Donald Trump announced, after hosting the meeting at the White House.
"The Ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon will be extended by THREE WEEKS," Trump wrote on his platform, Truth Social, making more explosive statements at the end of the White House meeting.
The extension follows a truce that came into effect in Lebanon on April 17.
Here’s what you need to know:
- A shorter truce extension than Lebanon sought
Beirut had initially requested a 60-day extension to the 10-day cease-fire agreed on April 17, as presented at the first round of talks on April 14 by its ambassador to the United States, Nada Mouawad Hamade.
The three-week extension agreed in Washington on Thursday sets a new deadline of May 17. The Lebanese government is seeking a full halt to Israeli attacks, which continue daily in southern Lebanon despite the truce. Officials would also possibly raise the level of representation at a future round of talks, for which no date has yet been set.
"I think with your help, with your support, we can make Lebanon great again," said Lebanese ambassador Nada Mouawad Hamade, referring to Donald Trump’s campaign slogan, "Make America Great Again."
Her American counterpart in Beirut, Michel Issa, himself of Lebanese descent, hailed a "historical meeting today that bring[s] [together] two countries that [have] never been together more than today." "The American president asked Israel not to target civilians and journalists," he added. Earlier on Wednesday, Israel deliberately targeted and killed Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil and wounded her colleague in southern Lebanon. The Israeli army has also continued its destruction campaign of buildings in several southern Lebanese villages, claiming that it seeks to establish a "buffer zone."
Also present, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that this extension of the cease-fire "gives everybody time to continue to work on what's going to be permanent peace. Between two countries that want to be at peace."
- Trump again discusses a meeting between Aoun and Netanyahu
In response to a question on whether peace deal can be reached within this year, Trump said there was a "great chance." He also said he expected to host President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a meeting during "the three-week cease-fire." The U.S. president had already tried to arrange a phone call between the two last week, which Aoun declined.
Aoun has repeatedly refused in recent weeks to engage directly with Netanyahu, saying again Thursday that he had "never considered" such contact. Following a call with Trump, the Lebanese president said he hoped to travel to Washington to meet the U.S. president and “brief him on the truth of what is happening in Lebanon.”
- Will the Israel boycott law be scrapped?
Responding to questions about Lebanese legislation prohibiting contact with Israel, Trump — unaware of the law — said, "We have to end that."
"That's something we're going to have to end. I have never heard of that ... It's a crime to talk with Israel. I'm pretty sure that that will be ended very quickly. Ok? I'll make sure of that. And I know Lebanon does not want that," he added. "Will you work on that please everybody?" he said, addressing the ambassadors behind him.
This law from the Lebanese penal code dates to 1955. The two countries have been formally at war since 1948, never having signed a peace or normalization agreement.
- Halting Hezbollah funding: a 'non-negotiable' element of an agreement with Iran
Trump also addressed the Hezbollah issue, announcing in particular that the United States "will work with Lebanon to help it protect itself" against the party-militia.
On the question of the group’s funding by Iran, he went so far as to say that halting this support was "non-negotiable" to reach a deal with Iran. So far limited to the issues of the Iranian nuclear program and the Strait of Hormuz, talks between Washington and Tehran have not tackled the matter of financing pro-Iranian militias in the Middle East, while the second round of negotiations planned in Pakistan remains uncertain. "I have all the time in the world, but Iran does not," he wrote Thursday on Truth Social.
While the United States says it wants to prioritize diplomacy, it maintains military pressure in the Middle East, with new troop deployments marked by the arrival of a third aircraft carrier, the George H.W. Bush. On Thursday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said he was only waiting for the green light from the United States to resume strikes against Iran.
However, Donald Trump insisted he had no intention of using nuclear weapons against Iran, whom he had threatened in early April, by saying "a whole civilization will die." "Why would I use nuclear weapons when we have already utterly destroyed them, in a very conventional way?" he added.
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