First day of Lebanon-Israel ceasefire talks ‘positive’, US official says

The truce will end on Sunday if it is not extended, though Israel has continued to launch air strikes it says are targeting Hezbollah

The US hailed “positive talks” on Thursday, as it sought to extend a shaky ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon.

The truce – considered to still be in place despite hundreds of deaths in Israeli strikes – ends on Sunday and violence again flared as the two governments met in Washington.

Israel has pounded Lebanon and invaded its south in response to retaliatory fire from Shia movement Hezbollah following Israel’s killing of Iran’s supreme leader at the start of the war on February 28.

Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors held the first of two days of talks at the US State Department, with Israel bringing along military officers.

“We had a full day of productive and positive talks,” a senior State Department official said, expecting more to say on Friday.

A Lebanese official said that the country would seek “the consolidation of the ceasefire” and said: “The first thing is to put an end to the death and destruction.”