Lebanon will attend a three-nation conference in Washington next week in an attempt to arrange a ceasefire with Israel, but a high-ranking Lebanese government official stated that no ceasefire means no talks with Israel. According to the US Department of State, next week’s talks will be held in Washington between Israeli and Lebanese delegates to secure a ceasefire agreement. The talks have been scheduled by Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s office. Ambassador Michel Issa of Lebanon, Israeli Ambassador Yechiel Leiter, and Lebanese Ambassador Nada Hamadeh Moawad will head the discussions.
But a Lebanese government official speaking to Reuters said that Beirut wants to see a ceasefire prior to any discussions with Israel. “No talks under fire,” he asserted. The discussions in Washington follow an ongoing dispute over whether Lebanon was part of the tentative US-Iran ceasefire agreement reached on Tuesday. Israeli troops have reportedly slain 303 and injured 1,150 civilians in Lebanon as of Wednesday; these attacks were among the most violent since Hezbollah’s participation in the war in early March. Whereas Pakistanis acting as brokers in the discussions along with Iran claim that Lebanon was indeed included in the ceasefire deal, the United States and Israel adamantly refuse such a claim. The Israeli prime minister ordered the government to conduct talks with Lebanon in order to disarm Hezbollah and attain peace, but denied the existence of a ceasefire in Lebanon.
Ali Fayyad, a Hezbollah MP, refused to negotiate directly with Israel, stating that the government must insist on a ceasefire being made a prerequisite before anything else is done. The Shiite militant organization has been launching rockets against northern Israel, saying that such attacks will go on unless the Israeli attacks on Lebanon end. This conflict may not only sabotage the ongoing talks in Lebanon but may also jeopardize other discussions between the United States and Iran taking place this coming weekend in Islamabad.