Page 2 - Lebanon

Children killed in Lebanon as Israeli-Hezbollah strikes hit homes

Jawad Younes, 11, and his cousins were playing soccer in the lot between their houses, as they often did. His little brother, 4-year-old Mehdi, had joined them but grew tired, so Jawad took him home and handed him off to their mother before returning to the game. Minutes later, an Israeli strike came. The target was Jawad's uncle's home. The blast shook neighbouring buildings and threw Jawad's siblings at home to the ground. As their mother, Malak Meslmani, scrambled to help them up, she could think only of Jawad. "I was pulling my children off the floor in the house, but as I was running to pick them up, I screamed, Jawad,'" she said. "My heart told me." Her son was instantly killed in the March 27 Israeli strike in Saksakieh. So was one of his cousins - so close they were more like brothers. Several other children were wounded. Jawad's uncle also was killed. He was an interior design engineer; Jawad wanted to be an engineer like him. Meslmani called him a civilian. But like many

First Israel-Lebanon talks productive, aim to start formal negotiations: US

The State Department says the first high-level meeting between Israel and Lebanon in decades was "productive" and will continue with the aim of launching direct negotiations. In a statement released after the two-hour session in Washington between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the ambassadors of Israel and Lebanon to the United States, the department said, "All sides agreed to launch direct negotiations at a mutually agreed time and venue." Israel has been fighting Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah movement and demands that the group, which opposed the talks and was not represented, be disarmed.

Lebanon, Israel hold first direct diplomatic talks in decades in Washington

Lebanon and Israel opened their first direct diplomatic talks in decades on Tuesday in Washington following more than a month of war between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called it a "historic opportunity" and made it clear no breakthrough agreement was immediately expected. Rubio said the Trump administration is "very happy" to be facilitating the discussions, while noting that "we understand we're working against decades of history and complexities" that will not be quickly resolved. Hezbollah opposes the direct talks and was not represented, and the group appeared to step up its fire on northern Israel as the talks began. "But we can begin to move forward with a framework where something can happen, something very positive, something very permanent, so that the people of Lebanon can have the kind of future they deserve, and so that the people of Israel can live without fear," Rubio said. Rubio and US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike

US State Secy Marco Rubio likely to join Israel-Lebanon talks in Washington

The negotiations, set to take place at the United States Department of State, will also include US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa and State Department counsellor Michael Needham

Hezbollah won't abide by any agreements from Lebanon-Israel talks in US

The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah will not abide by any agreements that may result from the direct Lebanon-Israel talks in the United States, negotiations it firmly opposes, a senior Hezbollah official said Monday. Wafiq Safa, a high-ranking member of Hezbollah's political council, spoke on the eve of the talks expected in Washington between Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors to the US It will be the first time in decades that envoys from Lebanon and Israel, which do not have diplomatic relations, meet face-to-face in direct talks. "As for the outcomes of this negotiation between Lebanon and the Israeli enemy, we are not interested in or concerned with them at all," Safa told The Associated Press. "We are not bound by what they agree to," he added in a rare interview with international media. He spoke next to a cemetery as an Israeli drone buzzed overhead. Historic negotiations at a sensitive time ----------------------------------------- Lebanese officials are looking to broke

Over 2,000 killed in Lebanon during Israeli strikes on Hezbollah: Officials

The death toll in Lebanon from Israeli strikes in the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah has risen to 2,020, the Lebanese health ministry said Saturday. The death toll from nearly six weeks of war includes 248 women,165 children and 85 health workers, the ministry said. Another 6,436 people have been wounded. Nearly 100 people were killed in the past 24 hours. The Iran-backed Lebanese militant group fired missiles into Israel on March 2 in retaliation for the US-Israeli attacks on Iran. A tentative truce is now in place in Iran, but the US and Israel say the agreement does not apply to Lebanon, while Tehran says it does. The question is likely to be one of the thornier points in the US-Iran ceasefire negotiations now underway in Pakistan.

US-Iran talks in Islamabad: Timing, venue, agenda; check key details here

Pakistan hosts US-Iran talks under tight security as a fragile ceasefire holds, with tensions over Lebanon, and Iran's control of the Strait of Hormuz complicating efforts towards a lasting truce

Direct talks with Israel to start next Tuesday, says Lebanese president

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has said that direct talks with Israel will start next Tuesday. The statement from Aoun's office comes after Lebanon and Israel's ambassadors to the US held a call with Washington's ambassador to Lebanon to discuss the terms of the negotiations, slated for next Tuesday in Washington, with the US State Department mediating. Beirut is keen to hold direct talks to end the ongoing war between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group, but under a ceasefire or truce similar to that of Washington's talks with Iran. Israel on Thursday announced that it authorised direct talks after Lebanon's request, but did not immediately issue a statement following the call. Hezbollah did not immediately comment on the development, though it has opposed direct talks with Israel. During the past 40 days of war, more than 1,900 people in Lebanon have been killed in Israeli strikes and more that 1 million others have been displaced, according to government figures.

MEA says deeply concerned by reports of civilian casualties in Lebanon

Israel invaded Lebanon last month in pursuit of Hezbollah after the group fired into Israel in support of Iran, as the US-Israel war on Iran raged

US-Iran set for talks as Netanyahu authorises negotiations with Lebanon

Negotiators from Iran and the United States prepared Friday for high-level talks planned to start a day later in Islamabad, seeking to steady a ceasefire teetering over Israel and Hezbollah exchanging fire and Tehran's chokehold over the Strait of Hormuz. US Vice President JD Vance was set to take off from Washington, with Iran still remaining mum over its team as it tried to pressure Washington to halt Israeli attacks in Lebanon. The semiofficial Tasnim news agency, close to Iran's Revolutionary Guard, claimed that talks would "remain suspended" otherwise. Meanwhile, Kuwait said it faced a drone attack Thursday night that it blamed on Iran and its militia allies in the region. Though Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard denied launching any assault, it has in the past carried out attacks across the Mideast it did not claim. In addition to talks in Iran, Israel-Lebanon negotiations are also expected to begin next week at the State Department in Washington - a potential boost to .

West Asia war: Iran warns Israel on Lebanon attacks; Trump targets Hormuz

The fragile US-Iran ceasefire faces new pressure as Iran warns Israel over Hezbollah strikes in Lebanon, while Donald Trump says Tehran is doing a 'very poor job' of allowing oil through Hormuz

Netanyahu authorises talks with Lebanon in boost to ceasefire efforts

In a potential boost to Middle East ceasefire efforts, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that he authorised direct negotiations with Lebanon "as soon as possible" aimed at disarming Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants and establishing relations between the neighbours. The two countries have technically been at war since Israel was established in 1948, and Netanyahu later stressed that there was no ceasefire between them. In a video statement, he said Israel will keep striking Hezbollah until security is restored in northern Israel. There was no immediate response from Lebanese authorities. But Israel-Lebanon negotiations were expected to begin next week at the State Department in Washington, according to a US official and a person familiar with the plans who both spoke on condition of anonymity. The prospect of talks appeared to bolster the tentative ceasefire in the Iran war that has staggered under the weight of Israel's bombardment of Beirut, Tehran's contin

Israel complicates Trump's push for peace with Iran amid Lebanon offensive

President Trump said he had asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to scale back Israel's military campaign in Lebanon

No ceasefire in Lebanon, continuing to strike Hezbollah, says Netanyahu

Netanyahu also said he has instructed the Cabinet to open direct negotiations with Lebanese government to achieve 'disarmament of Hezbollah' and 'historic peace agreement'

Israel seeks to begin peace talks with Lebanon soon, says Netanyahu

Netanyahu said he had directed the cabinet to begin direct peace talks with Lebanon, focusing on the disarming of Hezbollah and efforts to establish peaceful relations between the two countries

Iran warns of 'strong response' if Israel continues strikes on Hezbollah

Iran's parliament speaker warned Thursday that continued Israeli attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon would bring "explicit costs and STRONG responses." Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf issued the warning in a message on X. He insisted, like other Iranian officials, the two-week ceasefire extended to Lebanon, something denied by both Israel and the U.S. "Ceasefire violations carry explicit and STRONG responses," he wrote. "Extinguish the fire immediately." Qalibaf has been discussed as a possible negotiator who could meet U.S. Vice President JD Vance this weekend in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan.

Israeli military says it has killed nephew of Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem

Israel struck Beirut's southern suburbs just before midnight and at dawn, and hit towns across the south on Thursday morning, Lebanese state media said

West Asia war: Iran ties truce to Lebanon; Israel says strikes to continue

A two-week US-Iran ceasefire begins with talks set in Islamabad on Saturday, but the situation remains tense as Israel says its military operations in Lebanon will continue

Israel strikes Beirut after ceasefire, says Iran deal doesn't apply there

Lebanon's health ministry said dozens were killed and hundreds wounded in an early estimate

Israel to establish buffer zone in south Lebanon up to Litani River

Radwan forces are an elite military unit of Hezbollah.