US Hails 'Productive and Positive' Israel-Lebanon Talks in Washington

The United States cast Israel-Lebanon talks held in Washington on Thursday as “productive and positive” and a State Department official said more discussions aimed at ending their conflict will continue on Friday. A senior Lebanese official said earlier that Lebanon will demand that US ally Israel cease fire in the face-to-face talks, as Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah continued to trade blows despite a US-backed truce declared last month. An Israeli government spokesperson said the talks were taking place with the goal of disarming Hezbollah and reaching a peace agreement. A State Department official said a meeting of Lebanese and Israeli envoys, along with US officials, started at about 9am EDT and ended eight hours later. The US official said there was a “full day of productive and positive talks” on Thursday that will continue on Friday. The talks are the sides’ third meeting since Israel intensified air attacks on Lebanon after Hezbollah fired missiles at Israel on March 2, three days into the US-Israeli war on Iran.