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LAST UPDATE | 1 hr ago
LEBANON IS “NOT aware” of any upcoming contact with Israel, an official source told AFP, after US President Donald Trump said the leaders of the two countries would speak later today.
“We are not aware of any planned contact with the Israeli side, and we have not been informed of any through official channels,” the source said.
Trump wrote on his Truth Social network earlier that Washington was “trying to get a little breathing room between Israel and Lebanon. It has been a long time since the two leaders have spoken, like 34 years. It will happen tomorrow.”
The US president said the leaders would speak today, without identifying participants or giving further details.
A senior US administration official said earlier that Trump would “welcome” an end to hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon but stressed that any such outcome is not part of talks between Washington and Tehran.
“The president would welcome the end of hostilities in Lebanon as part of a peace agreement between Israel and Lebanon,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“The United States wants to see a durable peace but did not demand an immediate ceasefire,” and “negotiations between the US and Iran are not linked to ongoing peace talks between Israel and Lebanon,” according to the official.
Washington’s focus is on building trust between the Lebanese and Israeli governments “so that we can create space for a peace deal, and so that any future understandings can be durable.”
“Both sides need to build political momentum,” the official added.
Israel prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu meanwhile spoke yesterday of two central objectives in the talks with Lebanon: “First, the dismantling of Hezbollah; second, a sustainable peace… achieved through strength.”
Lebanon was pulled into the Middle East war on 2 March after Hezbollah attacked Israel.
Since then, Israeli strikes have killed more than 2,000 people and displaced more than one million in Lebanon, despite international calls for a ceasefire, and Israeli ground forces have invaded the country’s south.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s army chief is set to meet with Iranian officials in Tehran later in a bid to ease tensions in the Middle East and arrange a second round of negotiations between the US and Iran.
The White House said any further talks would likely take place in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, though no decision had been made on whether to resume negotiations.
The US naval blockade of Iranian ports continued as US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said the Trump administration would ramp up economic pain on Iran with new economic sanctions on countries doing business with it, calling the move the “financial equivalent” of a bombing campaign.
Pakistan has emerged as a key mediator after it hosted direct talks between the US and Iran in Islamabad that authorities said helped narrow differences between the two sides.
Mediators are seeking a new round before the ceasefire expires next week.
The war has jolted markets and rattled the global economy as shipping has been cut off and airstrikes have torn through military and civilian infrastructure across the region.
However, oil prices have fallen amid hopes for an end to fighting, and US stocks yesterday surpassed records set in January.
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