Lebanon launches 5th round of talks with Israel as ceasefire violations persist
Lebanon and the Israeli regime began a new round of talks in Washington on Tuesday, with Beirut determined to press ahead with direct negotiations even after four previous rounds since April failed to produce a real ceasefire, and as the regime continued its deadly attacks on the country.
"Today, and in the coming days, we embark on a new round of talks, which we hope will be decisive in achieving what we desire for the good of our nation and our people," Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said in a post on X on Tuesday.
Lebanese officials say face-to-face negotiations with Israel are the only way to secure an end to the war on the Arab country.
One of Lebanon's key goals in the talks is securing an Israeli military withdrawal, but top Israeli officials have said that troops would remain in southern Lebanon indefinitely.
Aoun said on Tuesday that Lebanon would "accept nothing less than the complete end of the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon and the simultaneous collapse of all foreign tutelage."
However, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a day earlier that Israeli forces in Lebanon would retain "full freedom of action to thwart any direct or developing threat."
Hezbollah has called on the government to withdraw from direct talks with Israel before the regime stops violating previous ceasefire deals.
The talks are overshadowed by the negotiations between Iran and the United States following a memorandum of understanding that stipulated fighting would halt across all fronts, including Lebanon.
On Monday, mediators Pakistan and Qatar said that Tehran and Washington had agreed to set up a "de-confliction cell" to limit flare-ups in Lebanon following talks in Switzerland on ending the war on Iran.
Fresh ceasefire violations
Fierce fighting has continued in southern Lebanon over the past weeks as Israeli troops have pushed deeper into Lebanese villages.
The fighting has largely paused since June 20 amid Iran-US talks on their memorandum of understanding.
However, on Tuesday, Lebanese media said Israeli gunfire killed two people in the south, in the first deadly attack in days under a fragile ceasefire with Hezbollah.
Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA) reported that two men were killed when Israeli soldiers "opened fire with their machine-guns in their direction while they were standing near an excavator that was unblocking a road" in Nabatieh al-Fawqa.
Hezbollah condemned the attack as a "blatant" Israeli truce violation and a "treacherous attack."
Separately, the NNA reported that "an enemy drone targeted a parked car" on the outskirts of the town of Baraasheet, without immediately reporting casualties.
Lebanon says Israeli attacks since March have killed more than 4,100 people.
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