Israel, Lebanon To Hold Historic Peace Talks at Washington as Hezbollah Rejects Negotiations

Israel and Lebanon are set to launch historic peace negotiations in Washington today as Hezbollah vows it won’t surrender. The Jewish state’s ambassador to the U.S., Yechiel Leiter, is expected to meet with Lebanon’s ambassador to the U.S., Nada Hamadeh, as well as Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and the American ambassador to Lebanon, Michel Issa, at 11 a.m. at the State Department. Hezbollah chief Qassem Naim said the terror group rejects negotiations with “the usurping Israeli entity,” while calling for a “historic and heroic stance by canceling this negotiating meeting.”Mr. Naim added that the negotiations are “futile and require a Lebanese agreement and consensus… We will not surrender. We will remain in the field until our last breath.”Hezbollah also orchestrated large demonstrations in Beirut against the peace negotiations with Israel over the weekend. A State Department official said that Lebanon and Israel are engaging in “open, direct, high-level diplomatic talks — the first such talks since 1993-brokered by the United States” as a direct result of Hezbollah’s “reckless actions.”“This conversation will scope the ongoing dialogue about how to ensure the long-term security of Israel’s northern border and to support the Government of Lebanon’s determination to reclaim full sovereignty over its territory and political life. Israel is at war with Hezbollah, not Lebanon, so there is no reason the two neighbors should not be talking,” the official added. The negotiations come after President Trump asked Prime Minister Netanyahu to scale down attacks against the terror group in Lebanon, as Iran threatened to resume the war if Lebanon wasn’t included in the ceasefire. Both Israel and Hezbollah have, however, continued launching attacks since Iran’s threat to walk away from the ceasefire negotiations with the U.S last week. Although Israel’s attacks have been less aggressive, Israeli soldiers are still fighting Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon while the air force carries out regular attacks against the terror group across the country. On Monday, the IDF said it had killed more than 100 Hezbollah members in the Bing Jbeil area in the past week. An Israeli military official told The New York Sun that the Israel Defense Forces will achieve “full operational control of Bint Jbeil” in the coming days and that only a small number of Hezbollah members remain in the area. “The terrorists planned to infiltrate and carry out a raid from the town of Bint Jbeil into Israeli territory. Now, the threat of a raid along with the firing of anti-tank missiles have now been eliminated,” the official added. The official added that soldiers killed Hezbollah members who exited a hospital in Bint Jbeil. The IDF also said it estimates that more than 250 Hezbollah members were killed in large-scale airstrikes across Lebanon last week where more than 300 people were killed, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.

Israel, Lebanon To Hold Historic Peace Talks at Washington as Hezbollah Rejects Negotiations

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