US announces new round of Israel-Lebanon talks in Washington next week

Talks come as Hezbollah, Israel say new ceasefire has been reached in wake of US-Iran memorandum to end war.The State Department in the United States has said that a new round of talks between Israel and Lebanon will be held in Washington, DC, next week.The statement on Friday came shortly after Israel and Hezbollah announced a renewed ceasefire in Lebanon, where ongoing fighting has threatened to derail the Iran-memorandum-of-understanding" class="entity-link entity-topic" data-entity-id="149409" data-entity-type="topic">US-Iran memorandum of understanding (MoU) to end the war.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Iran ‘ready to move forward’ with US deal, says Israel must abide by termslist 2 of 3Israel continues attacks on Lebanon despite US-Iran deallist 3 of 3‘Destruction is the goal’: Israel steers between the US, Iran, and Lebanonend of listThe State Department said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had spoken to Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Friday and “underscored that Lebanon’s bilateral negotiations with Israel represent the only feasible path to reconstruction, economic recovery, and ending recurrent cycles of violence”.The pair discussed the upcoming talks scheduled for June 23 and 25, “where the two sovereign governments will make progress toward a lasting peace”.Israel and Lebanon held their first in a series of direct talks in April, the first time the countries had met since 1993.Following that meeting and a subsequent round of talks in June, Israel and Lebanon announced pauses in fighting.However, the talks have not included Hezbollah, hampering any meaningful progress.Hezbollah and Israel have continued to exchange attacks in recent months. In the latest bout of fighting, Israeli attacks killed at least 47 people across southern Lebanon since midnight.Following the ceasefire agreement reached in November 2024, the government in Lebanon has been seeking to disarm Hezbollah as a part of a US-backed roadmap.The Lebanese government has also pushed for Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon. However, the text of an agreement reached in June called for Hezbollah’s withdrawal to north of the Litani River in southern Lebanon, but did not call for Israel’s full withdrawal.The Iran-memorandum-of-understanding" class="entity-link entity-topic" data-entity-id="149409" data-entity-type="topic">US-Iran memorandum of understanding to end the US-Israel war with Iran, meanwhile, commits to “ensuring the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Lebanon”.