Negotiations between Israel and Lebanon resume in the United States
High-level negotiations between Israel and Lebanon began at the United States Department of State this Tuesday (2).
The talks come after days of intense clashes between Israel and Hezbollah, which threaten to derail negotiations to end the war between the US and Iran.
The most recent round of negotiations is being led, on the American side, by the new deputy national security advisor, Mike Needham, alongside his successor as State Department advisor, Dan Holler.
Israel and Lebanon are represented by their respective ambassadors to the USA.
Officials did not respond to shouted questions during a brief photo session at the start of the meeting.
Fighting intensifies in Lebanon
Attacks between Israel and Hezbollah have continued despite an apparent extension of the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon.
Iranian state media reported on Monday that the country's authorities were suspending peace talks with the US due to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's actions in Lebanon.
This Tuesday (2), Iranian media outlets signaled that negotiations between Tehran and Washington were ongoing, but Iran's main negotiator threatened an escalation of the conflict if Israel's attacks on Lebanon continue.
Netanyahu said on Monday (1st) that Israeli armed forces would continue attacking southern Lebanon "as planned", hours after President Donald Trump declared that Israeli forces would not advance on Beirut.
A telephone conversation between the two leaders on Monday turned heated, according to people familiar with the conversation, with the American president pressuring his counterpart to scale back plans for operations in Lebanon.
Trump also said on Monday that he spoke by phone with "representatives of the leaders of Hezbollah, and they agreed to stop shooting at Israel."
According to a statement from the Lebanese Embassy in Washington, Lebanese authorities received confirmation of Hezbollah's agreement with an American proposal calling for a ceasefire with Israel.
Understand what Hezbollah is and how the Lebanese group came about
Source: CNN