HOSTILITY ONGOING:
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun slammed Israel for continuing to kill people, and demolishing homes and places of worship despite the ceasefire
The US embassy in Lebanon on Thursday urged a meeting between Lebanese and Israeli leaders as the Lebanese Ministry of Health said Israeli strikes on the country’s south killed at least 17 people despite an ongoing ceasefire.
Israeli and Lebanese representatives this month have met twice in Washington since the war began. After the first talks, US President Donald Trump announced a 10-day ceasefire in Lebanon that began on April 17, and a three-week extension after the second round.
Trump has said he hopes to host Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “over the next couple of weeks” as the two countries prepare for direct negotiations.
Photo: Reuters
“Lebanon stands at a crossroads. Its people have a historic opportunity to reclaim their country and shape their future as a truly sovereign, independent nation,” the embassy said. “The time for hesitation is over.”
A direct meeting between Aoun and Netanyahu, “facilitated by President Trump, would give Lebanon the chance to secure concrete guarantees on full sovereignty, territorial integrity, secure borders, humanitarian and reconstruction support, and the complete restoration of Lebanese state authority over every inch of its territory — guaranteed by the United States,” it added.
Aoun said Israel “must first fully implement the ceasefire in order to move on to negotiations… Israeli attacks cannot continue as they are.”
“We are now waiting for the United States to set a date to begin direct negotiations” with Israel, he said.
Israel has kept up deadly strikes on Lebanon despite the truce, and its soldiers are operating inside a “Yellow Line” running about 10km inside Lebanon along the border.
Lebanon’s health ministry said Israeli strikes in the south killed 17 people on Thursday, including five women and two children, while the army said another strike killed one of its soldiers.
The Israeli army also said one of its soldiers had been killed in south Lebanon.
Aoun slammed “continuing Israeli violations” in the country’s south, saying those were occurring “despite the ceasefire, as do demolitions of homes and places of worship, while the number of killed and wounded rises.”
“Pressure must be exerted on Israel to ensure it respects international laws and conventions and ceases targeting civilians, paramedics, civil defense, and humanitarian health and relief organizations,” Aoun said.