The Japan Times - US to host Israel-Lebanon talks as strikes threaten 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.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had earlier on Thursday ordered his ministers to seek direct talks with Lebanon, pushing for Iran-backed Hezbollah's disarmament.

But a Lebanese government official told AFP that Beirut required a truce before starting any negotiations with Israel, a day after the deadly strikes across the country.

Neither Israel nor Lebanon have publicly confirmed the US talks for next week.

Hezbollah said it was engaged in close quarters combat against Israeli forces on the ground in southern Lebanon on Thursday, as Lebanese authorities said Israeli strikes killed at least 303 people and wounded 1,150 the previous day.

The Iran-allied group also said it had fired rockets towards Israel on Thursday in response to what it called a violation of the ceasefire.

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.

Netanyahu's order for direct negotiations with Lebanon's government was focused on disarming Hezbollah and establishing peace, according to a statement from his office, but he offered no immediate respite from the aerial attacks.

A Hezbollah lawmaker later reiterated his group's "rejection of any direct negotiations between Lebanon" and Israel.

- 'They're wrong' -

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.

Fearing the truce may be in jeopardy, Brussels, Moscow and Ankara demanded that the US-Iran ceasefire be extended to Lebanon.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz warned that "the severity with which Israel is waging war there could cause the peace process as a whole to fail, and that must not be allowed to happen."

"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.

Iran's parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Tehran sees Lebanon as an "inseparable part of the ceasefire," while President Masoud Pezeshkian said Israel's strikes rendered "meaningless" talks with US envoys planned for the end of the week in Pakistan.

- 'Where is Hezbollah here?' -

Both Israel and the United States insist the fighting in Lebanon is not covered by the ceasefire.

"Our message is clear: anyone who acts against Israeli civilians, we will strike them. We will continue to hit Hezbollah wherever necessary," Netanyahu said in a social media post.

Lebanon's civil defense said several bodies were still under the rubble following Wednesday's strikes.

"We don't know where my niece is... the rescue teams have been working tirelessly since yesterday, but they haven't found her," Beirut resident Taha Qarqamaz told AFP.

"Look, these are school notebooks, class notes, books! Where is Hezbollah here? There is no Hezbollah in this neighborhood!" protested his friend, Khaled Salam.

President Donald Trump claimed victory in the Middle East war after agreeing the two-week truce with Iran to allow talks between US and Iranian negotiators aimed at ending a conflict that has already killed thousands and plunged the global economy into turmoil.

Tehran's ambassador to Pakistan deleted a social media post saying an Iranian delegation would arrive in Pakistan on Thursday.

An official at the Iranian embassy in Islamabad told AFP the post was removed "because of some issues" and refused to say whether the delegation was still expected.

- High-stakes talks -

If the Pakistan talks go ahead, a key point of contention remains the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil as well as vast quantities of natural gas and fertilizer pass in peacetime.

Iran announced alternative routes on Thursday for ships travelling through the strait, citing the risk of sea mines.

MarineTraffic data showed that the Gabon-flagged MSG passed through the strait on Thursday, the first non-Iranian oil tanker to do so since the ceasefire was announced.

Trump warned Iran against imposing a toll for ships passing through the strait.

"They better not be and, if they are, they better stop now!" Trump said on his Truth Social platform.

Kuwait reported significant drone damage Thursday -- the latest in hundreds of Iranian missile and drone attacks on Gulf countries since the war began, underscoring fears that the truce may not hold.

Y.Watanabe--JT