Jerusalem, April 20 (IANS) Israeli and Lebanese officials will meet on Thursday for a second round of peace talks, an Israeli official confirmed on Monday.

The two sides will meet in Washington for direct talks, the official said on condition of anonymity, without providing further details, reports indicated.

“The second round of direct talks between Israel’s Ambassador in Washington, Yechiel Leiter and his Lebanese counterpart, Nada Hamadeh Moawad, will take place on Thursday,” an Israeli official told ‘The Times of Israel’.

The meeting will be hosted in Washington at the State Department, and the talks will be mediated by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other American diplomats.

Staffers from Israeli, Lebanese and US sides will be included in the meeting, the report said.

The meeting will be the first of its kind since a fragile 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon took effect at midnight between Thursday and Friday local time (2100 GMT) after weeks of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, Xinhua news agency reported.

Earlier on Monday, the Lebanese presidency said on the social media platform X that the Lebanese delegation will be headed by former Lebanese Ambassador to the United States, Simon Karam.

The presidency said the goals of the negotiations are to halt hostilities, end the Israeli occupation of southern areas, and deploy the army to the internationally recognised southern border.

“No one else will participate on Lebanon’s behalf or take its place in this mission,” it said.

It said the anticipated talks are separate from any other negotiation tracks, framing the situation as a choice between prolonged war with its humanitarian, social, economic, and sovereignty costs or a negotiated settlement.

A 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon took effect at midnight between 16 and 17 April, following an earlier announcement by US President Donald Trump.

–IANS

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