Lebanon to press Israel to cease fire at Washington talks

Lebanon will demand Israel cease fire at face-to-face talks in Washington on Thursday, a senior Lebanese official ​said, as Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel continued to trade blows despite a US-backed truce declared last month, Report informs via Reuters.

The talks between Lebanese and Israeli envoys will ‌mark the sides' third meeting since hostilities reignited between Hezbollah and Israel on March 2. Beirut is attending despite strong objections from Shi'ite Muslim Hezbollah.

An Israeli government spokesperson said the talks were taking place with the goal of disarming Hezbollah and reaching a peace agreement.

Fought in parallel to the US-Iran conflict, the Hezbollah-Israel war has rumbled on since US President Donald Trump declared a ceasefire on April 16 - ​though hostilities have largely been contained to southern Lebanon since then.

The ceasefire is due to expire on Sunday.

With Lebanon's health ministry reporting 22 people killed ​in Israeli strikes on Wednesday, including eight children, the senior Lebanese official said the Lebanese delegation would seek "a ceasefire that Israel implements."

The ⁠Israeli military said an explosive drone launched by Hezbollah fell within Israeli territory near the border and injured several Israeli civilians.

Israel has kept troops in a self-declared security zone ​in southern Lebanon, saying this aims to shield northern Israel from attack by Hezbollah, which fired hundreds of rockets and drones at Israel during the war.

The Israeli military said ​it carried out a new wave of attacks on Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon on Thursday.

Hezbollah said it carried out 17 attacks on Israeli troops in the south on Wednesday.