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<\/a><\/p>\nPublished On 11 Apr 202611 Apr 2026<\/p>\n
Israel says it will not discuss a ceasefire with Hezbollah when it meets Lebanese officials for talks in Washington next week \u2013 as Israeli attacks on Lebanon go on.<\/p>\n
Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors held late-night discussions on Friday to finalise arrangements for the meeting due at the state department on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
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Israel\u2019s ambassador, Yechiel Leiter, said the talks would mark the start of formal negotiations with the Lebanese government, despite the absence of diplomatic relations between the two countries.<\/p>\n
\u201cIsrael agreed to begin formal peace negotiations\u201d with Lebanon, he said.<\/p>\n
But he ruled out any discussion involving Hezbollah.<\/p>\n
\u201cIsrael refused to discuss a ceasefire with the Hezbollah terrorist organisation, which continues to attack Israel and is the main obstacle to peace between the two countries,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
The diplomatic push comes as Israeli strikes intensify<\/a> across Lebanon. The National News Agency reported the killing of three people on Saturday when an air strike destroyed a residential building in Mayfadoun in Nabatieh district.<\/p>\n Media reports suggest Washington and Beirut have urged Israel to pause attacks before the talks. Reuters, citing Axios, said both the Lebanese government and the Trump administration have requested a temporary halt to hostilities, though the White House has not publicly confirmed the report.<\/p>\n Trump said he had asked Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to scale back the ongoing bombardment, warning that continued strikes could undermine the fragile ceasefire<\/a> between the US and Iran. Talks between them are set to begin in Pakistan on Saturday.<\/p>\n Iran: No talks without Lebanon<\/p>\n Tehran has said that the two-week pause in hostilities agreed earlier this week with Washington includes an end to fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. Israel has rejected<\/a> that interpretation and continued its military campaign, including a large-scale assault on Wednesday that killed and wounded over 1,000 people<\/a>.<\/p>\n Iran responded by continuing to keep the Strait of Hormuz shut.<\/p>\n Trump later said that Lebanon was not part of the ceasefire arrangement, contradicting claims by Iran and mediator Pakistan.<\/p>\n The speaker of Iran\u2019s Parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said Tehran would not engage in negotiations without a ceasefire in Lebanon and the release of frozen Iranian assets.<\/p>\n