WASHINGTON: Israel and Lebanon will hold talks in Washington next week, a State Department official said on Thursday, amid mounting international concerns that Israel's bombing campaign could shatter an already fragile US-Iran ceasefire.
Israel's heaviest strikes on Lebanon since Hezbollah entered the Middle East war in early March killed hundreds on Wednesday, rattling the uneasy truce between Washington and Tehran less than 48 hours after it came into force.
"We can confirm that the Department will host a meeting next week to discuss ongoing ceasefire negotiations with Israel and Lebanon," the US official said.
The announcement came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered his ministers to seek direct talks with Lebanon focused on disarming Iran-backed Hezbollah.
But a Lebanese government official told AFP that Beirut required a truce before entering any negotiations with Israel.
Neither Israel nor Lebanon have publicly confirmed the US talks for next week, and Israel's latest strikes drew sharp rebuke from Iranian and Pakistani officials ahead of talks in Islamabad that are expected to focus on a key US demand: reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
Hezbollah said it was engaged in close quarters combat against Israeli forces on the ground in southern Lebanon on Thursday, a day after Lebanese authorities said Israeli strikes killed at least 303 people and wounded 1,150.
Israel's army Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir visited ground troops inside Lebanon on Thursday, telling them Hezbollah had suffered a "heavy blow" from the strikes a day earlier.
In a sign that the violence could continue, Israel's military on Thursday issued a new evacuation order for Beirut's southern suburbs and said it was striking Hezbollah launch sites in Lebanon.
'They're wrong'
Israel's refusal to halt operations in Lebanon has cast a shadow over expected peace talks in Pakistan.
The two-week truce was agreed to allow negotiations between US and Iranian officials aimed at ending a conflict that has already killed thousands and plunged the global economy into turmoil.
Iranian officials said Israel's strikes had rendered the Pakistan talks "meaningless" and that Lebanon was an "inseparable part of the ceasefire."
Tehran's ambassador to Pakistan meanwhile deleted a social media post saying an Iranian delegation would arrive in the country on Thursday, and an official at the Iranian embassy in Islamabad told AFP the post was removed "because of some issues," refusing to say whether the delegation was still expected.
Still, Vice President JD Vance is due to lead the US delegation on Saturday, joined by special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Pakistan's Defense Minister Khawaja Asif posted a sharp criticism of Israel's strikes on Lebanon Thursday evening.
"Israel is evil and a curse for humanity — while peace talks are underway in Islamabad, genocide is being committed in Lebanon," he wrote on X, adding that he hoped "people who created this cancerous state on Palestinian land" would "burn in hell."
Pakistan does not formally recognize Israel and has insisted the ceasefire includes Lebanon, which Israel disputes.
Fearing the truce may be in jeopardy, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz — echoing worries in other capitals — warned that the destruction in Lebanon could cause "the peace process as a whole to fail."
"Let's be really clear about it, they're wrong," British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told ITV News when asked about Israel's insistence that Lebanon was not covered by the ceasefire.
Netanyahu, who claims Lebanon is not covered by the ceasefire, said his message was clear, anyone who acts against Israel, “we will strike them. We will continue to hit Hezbollah wherever necessary."
Trump told NBC News that Israel was "scaling back" strikes in Lebanon and that Netanyahu had assured him its attacks would become more "low-key."
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