Israel won't halt strikes on Hezbollah -- Israeli envoy to US

Direct Israel-Lebanon talks set for Tuesday in DC; US said pressing Israel for ceasefire

PM, Trump reportedly held ‘tense’ call on Lebanon, with Netanyahu fearing US would declare unilateral truce with Hezbollah if he didn’t accede to talks with Beirut; terror group urges government to hold firm

The first in-person meeting in the expected negotiations between Israel and Lebanon will take place on Tuesday in Washington, a US official familiar with the details told The Times of Israel on Friday, following reported pressure on Jerusalem from the Trump administration to start peace talks and scale back strikes against Hezbollah.

The talks, which will be hosted at the US State Department, come amid reports of alarm from the White House over the scale of Israel’s massive wave of strikes in Lebanon following the ceasefire announcement between the US and Iran on Wednesday.

Ahead of next week’s meeting, which both countries later confirmed,  Washington and Beirut are pushing Israel to agree to a ceasefire in Lebanon as a demonstration of Jerusalem’s seriousness about reaching an agreement, according to a Friday report, though Israel has insisted that talks take place under fire.

Lebanese Ambassador to Washington Nada Hamadeh, Israeli Ambassador to Washington Yechiel Leiter and US Ambassador to Beirut Michel Issa – respectively leading the Lebanese, Israeli and US delegations – will be in attendance.

A preparatory phone meeting between the three officials was held later Friday, marking the first ever call between the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors.

A statement from Lebanon’s presidency on the call said it was part of diplomatic efforts aimed at securing a ceasefire and launching negotiations, adding that the two sides agreed to hold the first meeting on Tuesday at the US State Department under Washington’s mediation.

Leiter meanwhile said he told his Lebanese counterpart that Israel is not prepared to cease fighting against Hezbollah, which continued to fire rockets at northern Israeli communities into earlier Saturday morning, setting off sirens but resulting in no injuries.

“In the conversation earlier today in Washington between the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to Washington, together with US ambassador to Lebanon, and under the auspices of the US State Department, Israel agreed to begin formal peace negotiations this coming Tuesday,” Leiter said in a statement.

“Israel refused to discuss a ceasefire with the Hezbollah terrorist organization, which continues to attack Israel and is the main obstacle to peace between the two countries,” he added.

There was no direct comment on the meeting from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, though the premier said a day earlier that Israel would begin negotiations with Lebanon “as soon as possible,” aimed at disarming Hezbollah and reaching a full peace agreement between the countries.

According to Channel 12, the US is continuing its pressure on Israel to agree to a truce ahead of the negotiations, arguing that the ceasefire would be framed as an achievement by the Lebanese government, as opposed to a win for Iran, which has been demanding its truce with the US cover Lebanon, to no avail.

Israel hasn’t yet made a decision on the matter, but there are some senior officials in Jerusalem arguing in favor of agreeing to a ceasefire, as it would merely return the sides to the terms of the previous truce from November 2024, under which the IDF is allowed to carry out attacks against Hezbollah threats deemed imminent.

Such strikes have taken place in southern Lebanon over the past year and a half on a very regular basis.

For its part, Hezbollah urged Beirut to stand firm, with terror group chief Naim Qassem telling the Lebanese government to stop giving “free concessions” to Israel.

“We will not accept a return to the previous situation, and we call on officials to stop offering free concessions,” Qassem said in a written message broadcast on the party’s Al-Manar TV, in which he also denounced the “bloody criminality on Wednesday,” referring to Israel’s major strikes.

Dozens of supporters of the Iran-backed group protested outside the Lebanese prime minister’s office in central Beirut on Friday, calling the move towards talks a surrender to Israel.

“Our blood has been spilled on this land, and our state is conspiring against us,” said protester Hassan Shuaib. “Our state wants to kill us; our state wants to strip us of our weapons.”

PM, Trump held ‘tense’ call Thursday

The premier’s statement Thursday announcing direct talks with Lebanon came after he held a “tense” phone call with US President Donald Trump, with the premier realizing at the end of the conversation that if he didn’t publicly express his readiness to launch peace talks with Lebanon, Trump would unilaterally announce a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, according to a CNN report.

It was at least the third phone call the pair had held this week, with Netanyahu using a Tuesday call to successfully lobby Trump against including Lebanon in the Iran ceasefire.

But Trump called Netanyahu again on Wednesday to express his alarm after Israel launched the largest wave of strikes in Lebanon since the beginning of the war, killing over 300 people, according to the Lebanese health ministry. Trump said afterward that he urged Netanyahu for a more “low-key” campaign against Hezbollah.

Still ostensibly unhappy on Thursday, Trump phoned Netanyahu again to discuss Lebanon.

Shortly after the call, Netanyahu announced that Israel would enter direct talks with Lebanon regarding a ceasefire with Hezbollah and a peace deal with Beirut, while stressing that strikes against the Iran-backed terror group would continue in the meantime.

Since then, Israel has refrained from targeting Beirut for over 24 hours, despite issuing an evacuation warning for its southern suburbs on Thursday. The Kan public broadcaster reported Friday that after Netanyahu spoke with Trump, the premier ordered that any strike in the Lebanese capital must be authorized by him.

The Israeli Air Force continued strikes against other Hezbollah targets in Lebanon on Friday, albeit at a slightly lower intensity than in previous days. According to the military, the IAF hit 120 Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon to “remove threats” to ground troops over the previous day.

Lebanese media reported major IDF strikes in south Lebanon’s Nabatiyeh, one of which hit near a government building and killed eight members of the country’s State Security agency.

The military said it had targeted buildings used by Hezbollah “for military activity,” and that it was aware of reports of casualties among Lebanon’s security forces. “The incident is under review,” the IDF added.

Hezbollah returned fire Friday, seriously wounding an IDF reservist and lightly injuring another soldier in a drone attack in southern Lebanon, with the army saying that an explosive-laden drone struck next to the forces, and flying shrapnel injured the two troops.

They were taken to a hospital and their families were notified, the army added.

The terror group also launched more than 30 rockets at Israel on Friday, according to the IDF. Most of the rockets were intercepted or struck open areas, though a handful of rockets hit populated areas without being shot down.

Damage was caused by several rocket strikes, including in Misgav Am, Nahariya, Deir al-Assad and Safed, according to rescue services, though no injuries were reported.

IDF says it killed 180 Hezbollah members in Wednesday’s strikes

Meanwhile, the IDF provided new details on the wide-scale strikes across Lebanon on Wednesday, saying it killed at least 180 members of the terror group.

Lebanon’s health ministry reported that the strikes killed 357. It did not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

The strikes hit around 100 Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon, the Beqaa Valley, and Beirut, according to the military. The IDF said the strikes were carried out based on “precise, high-quality intelligence,” which enabled “simultaneous strikes in multiple areas within just one minute.”

The strikes caused “a significant and deep blow” to Hezbollah, the military claimed.

“Following an initial intelligence assessment by the Military Intelligence Directorate, it can be determined that the IDF has eliminated more than 180 terrorists from the Hezbollah terror organization,” the IDF said, adding that it is continuing to verify additional deaths, meaning the true number may be higher.

The IDF said that the targets included more than 45 “central headquarters” and another 40 buildings used by the terror group to advance attacks on Israel, alongside other infrastructure belonging to the terror group’s leadership.

In Beirut alone, the IDF said it struck 35 Hezbollah sites, including an emergency headquarters of the terror group’s intelligence division, a headquarters of the elite Radwan Force, and a headquarters of the group’s missile unit.

In south Lebanon, the military said the strikes hit several weapon depots. And in the Beqaa Valley, the IDF struck several headquarters of the Radwan Force and Hezbollah’s intelligence division.

The military said that most of the Hezbollah sites were located “within the heart of a civilian population, as part of the cynical exploitation by the Hezbollah terror organization of Lebanese civilians as human shields.”

The IDF said it took steps to “minimize harm to civilians” in the strikes. According to Lebanese health authorities, among the dead in Wednesday’s strikes were women and children.

In total, the IDF has killed more than 1,400 Hezbollah operatives in Lebanon since hostilities escalated on March 2, it claimed Friday. Lebanon’s health ministry says Israeli attacks have killed over 1,800 people, in tolls that do not differentiate between fighters and civilians.