Lebanon and Israel are scheduled to hold two days of talks in Washington starting Thursday, an attempt to end the latest Israel-Hezbollah conflict that broke out two months ago. In the lead-up to those meetings, Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem urged Lebanon to pull back from direct negotiations with Israel, arguing that such talks would play into Israel’s interests. In a letter directed to Hezbollah officials, Kassem said direct negotiations “benefit Israel” and are “concessions by Lebanese authorities,” according to the Associated Press.
Kassem told Hezbollah officials that Lebanon should instead resort to indirect negotiations, a path he said the government has used previously. He pointed to an earlier episode in which a ceasefire was reached in November 2024, describing indirect talks as typically conducted through a third party.
In the same letter, Kassem said the dispute over Hezbollah’s weapons is an internal matter and should not be folded into talks with Israel. Lebanon’s government has sought disarmament of Hezbollah after the fighting that began in early March, describing the group’s military activity as illegal, the AP reported. Lebanon’s authorities have also demanded that hostilities stop, Israel withdraw from Lebanon, Lebanese troops be deployed south of the Litani River, Lebanese prisoners held in Israel be released, and displaced people be able to return to their homes.
The call for a shift in negotiation format comes as the ceasefire remains fragile. A U.S.-brokered ceasefire went into effect on April 17, but Israel and Hezbollah have continued carrying out daily attacks, the AP reported. On Tuesday, Hezbollah fired several drones at northern Israel, according to Israel’s military. The military said it intercepted several drones before they crossed the border, but some explosive ones detonated near the border, and it said no injuries were reported.
While Hezbollah’s drone attacks were reported in Israel’s statement, Lebanon’s side highlighted casualties as well. Lebanon’s Health Minister Rakan Nassereddine told reporters that since the ceasefire took effect, 380 people have been killed and 1,122 have been wounded, bringing the toll since the war began to 2,882 killed and 8,786 wounded, according to the AP.
In southern Lebanon, Israel’s air force carried out strikes in multiple areas, including the village of Sohmor in the eastern Bekaa Valley, state-run National News Agency reported. The agency said airstrikes on the village of Jibchit killed three people and wounded four. It also reported Israeli forces entered parts of Deir Mimas on the Litani River and blew up a solar-powered water pumping station supplying the village, describing damage from a pre-dawn blast. Israel’s military posted photos of troops along the Litani River but did not provide exact location details, the AP said.
Hezbollah, for its part, issued statements about Tuesday’s actions. It said its fighters struck Israeli troops near the river in the village of Deir Seryan with rockets, without providing additional details. Hezbollah also confirmed that one of its military commanders, Ahmed Ghaleb Balout, was killed in an airstrike near Beirut last week. The group released a photo of Balout describing him as a commander who spent much of his life on the battlefield; the AP reported that Balout was killed May 6 in an airstrike on a southern suburb of Beirut, the first such strike near the Lebanese capital since the ceasefire went into effect.
Israel’s military said Thursday it had killed Balout, identifying him as a commander in Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force, along with two other militants, according to the AP.