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Israel minister says Netanyahu to talk to Lebanon leader Thursday
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will speak to Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, one of his ministers said Thursday, in what would be a historic first.
Israeli minister for innovation, science and technology Gila Gamliel confirmed the talks after US President Donald Trump said the pair would speak on Thursday.
But Aoun did not confirm the call, and, in a statement from his office, stressed the importance of agreeing a ceasefire as a starting point for negotiations.
If they take place, the talks would come as Washington pushes to ease hostilities following the first direct talks between the two countries in decades this week, when their ambassadors met in the US capital.
Lebanon was pulled into the Middle East war on March 2 after the Lebanon-based armed group Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, attacked Israel.
Since then, Israeli strikes in Lebanon have killed more than 2,000 people and displaced more than a million, despite international calls for a ceasefire, and Israeli ground forces have invaded the country's south.
"Trying to get a little breathing room between Israel and Lebanon," Trump said Wednesday on his Truth Social platform, referring to the ambassadors meeting held in Washington the day before -- the first meeting of its kind since 1993.
Trump said the leaders of Lebanon and Israel would speak on Thursday, without identifying participants or giving details.
Israeli minister Gamliel later said "the prime minister will speak for the first time with the president of Lebanon after so many years of a complete breakdown in dialogue between the two countries".
"This move will hopefully ultimately lead to prosperity and flourishing for Lebanon as a state," she told Israeli Army Radio on Thursday.
An official Lebanese source told AFP, however, that Beirut was "not aware of any planned contact with the Israeli side, and we have not been informed of any through official channels".
"The ceasefire requested by Lebanon with Israel is the natural starting point for direct negotiations between the two countries," Aoun said in his statement.
Meanwhile, Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported clashes in Bint Jbeil, a town five kilometres from the border where Hezbollah fighters are battling the Israeli army.
This was followed, NNA reported, by an Israeli strike that destroyed a key bridge and another that hit the road linking Beirut to the Syrian capital Damascus.
Analyst Michael Young of the Carnegie Middle East Center told AFP that there had never before been contact between the leaders of Lebanon and Israel.
In September 1982, Bachir Gemayel, elected Lebanese president in the wake of an Israeli invasion, met with Israeli leaders but was assassinated before taking office.
In 1992 and 1993, diplomats from the two countries met in Washington in the wake of a Middle East peace process launched at a conference in Madrid.
- 'Durable peace' -
A senior US administration official stressed that any end to the hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon was not part of talks between Washington and Tehran.
"The president would welcome the end of hostilities in Lebanon as part of a peace agreement between Israel and Lebanon," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"The United States wants to see a durable peace but did not demand an immediate ceasefire," the official said. "Negotiations between the US and Iran are not linked to ongoing peace talks between Israel and Lebanon."
Washington's focus is on building trust between the Lebanese and Israeli governments "so that we can create space for a peace deal, and so that any future understandings can be durable."
"Both sides need to build political momentum," the official added.
Israel and Lebanon agreed on Tuesday to begin direct negotiations following the talks between the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors.
Netanyahu spoke on Wednesday of two central objectives in the talks: "First, the dismantling of Hezbollah; second, a sustainable peace... achieved through strength."
The Lebanese ambassador, Nada Hamadeh Moawad, said she had called for a ceasefire in Lebanon during the meeting, which Israel has so far rejected.
Hezbollah condemned the talks, calling them "capitulation".
On the ground, the Israeli army again on Thursday called on civilians to evacuate the entire area of southern Lebanon up to the Zahrani River, about 40 kilometres north of the border.
A.Riccobono--INP
