Israel and Lebanon have agreed to extend a ceasefire declared on April 16 by 45 days, the United States announced on Friday, even as Israel carried out new strikes on Lebanon. The US State Department described the talks held in Washington over the past two days as 'highly productive'.
Envoys from both countries met in Washington and agreed to extend the ceasefire that was set to expire Sunday. The State Department will hold negotiations aimed at reaching a permanent political agreement on June 2 and 3, and the Pentagon will bring together delegations from the countries' militaries on May 29.
Israel has been pounding Lebanon and invaded its south in response to fire from Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Shia movement that is not part of the ceasefire diplomacy. Israel's ambassador to Washington, Yechiel Leiter, said after the talks that it would be critical to ensure Israel's security.
Even as talks were wrapping up, Israel's military issued evacuation orders for the southern city of Tyre, where it said it was hitting Hezbollah infrastructure. An AFP correspondent reported a series of strikes, two of them near Tyre, while state media said another targeted a centre run by a local NGO near a hospital. Lebanon's health ministry said the strikes on the Tyre district wounded at least 37 people, including six hospital personnel, nine women and four children.
The Israeli military said another of its soldiers was killed in southern Lebanon, bringing the number of Israeli soldiers killed in clashes with Hezbollah since early March to 19. It said it killed more than 220 Hezbollah fighters over the past week and struck hundreds of targets. Hezbollah also claimed attacks on Israeli troops in several southern Lebanese towns and a drone attack on the headquarters of the Israeli army's 300th brigade.
The United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Lebanon, Imran Riza, said that diplomacy needed to stop the violence but expressed hope that the talks 'will pave the way toward a political solution'.
