The United States is hosting the second round of direct talks between Lebanon and Israel in Washington.
The meeting on Thursday follows a meeting on April 14, which marked the first high-level direct engagement between the two countries since 1993.
Israel and Lebanon agreed to a truce on April 16 for an initial 10-day period to enable peace negotiations between the two countries.
The 10-day truce can be extended by mutual agreement as talks progress.
Who is talking?
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is facilitating the talks, with Israeli and Lebanese Ambassadors to US, Yechiel Leiter and Nada Hamadeh Moawad, leading their sides.
In the first round, US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa, State Department Counsellor Michael Needham, and US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz also participated.
Talks amid Israeli violations
Three separate Israeli strikes have killed at least six people and wounded others in the last 24 hours, according to local authorities.
Israel killed prominent Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil on Wednesday.
Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said that Israel’s targeting of journalists constitutes “war crimes”, condemning what he described as a systematic pattern of attacks in southern Lebanon.
Israeli ceasefire violations have destroyed 428 housing units in southern Lebanon over the past three days, Lebanon’s National Council for Scientific Research said on Wednesday.
It added that during 46 days of Israeli assaults before the recent ceasefire, 17,756 housing units were destroyed, while 32,668 were damaged.
A Lebanese official said Beirut wants a ceasefire extension as a prerequisite for talks to expand beyond the ambassadorial level to the next phase, in which Lebanon would push for an Israeli withdrawal, the return of Lebanese detainees in Israel and a delineation of the land border.
What is Lebanon seeking?
Lebanon is reportedly seeking a ceasefire extension and a halt to Israeli demolitions in occupied southern villages.
The demolitions are happening on such a wide scale that residents, Lebanese officials and UN peacekeepers are increasingly worried that large numbers of people displaced by the latest war will have nowhere to return if the fragile truce holds.