Israel announced it will begin negotiations with Lebanon

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that negotiations with Lebanon will begin as soon as possible.

“In light of Lebanon’s repeated calls for direct negotiations with Israel, yesterday I instructed the cabinet to initiate direct negotiations with Lebanon as soon as possible,” the prime minister said in a statement.

He said the talks would focus on disarming Hezbollah and establishing peaceful relations between Israel and Lebanon.

According to Axios journalist Barak Ravid, the start of negotiations does not mean a ceasefire in Lebanon, according to an Israeli official.

Lebanon had advocated for a temporary ceasefire in the past 24 hours to pave the way for broader talks with Israel, a senior Lebanese official told Reuters.

A senior Israeli official told Axios that direct talks between Israel and Lebanon will begin next week in Washington.

It is not reported whether the Lebanese group Hezbollah will participate in the negotiations.

• On the night of April 8, the United States and Iran announced that they had agreed to a ceasefire. At the same time, Israel continued to attack Lebanon. US authorities said that the ceasefire did not apply to Lebanon.
• Israel emphasized that it was not fighting with Lebanon, but with the Hezbollah group on Lebanese territory.
• Lebanon does not officially recognize the state of Israel.