Israel and Lebanon agreed to a 45-day extension of a ceasefire that has tamped down the conflict between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, as two days of talks facilitated by Washington concluded on Friday with an agreement to hold further meetings in the coming weeks.
"The April 16 cessation of hostilities will be extended by 45 days to enable further progress," State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said.
According to him, the talks aimed at settling decades of conflict between the two countries were "highly productive." The ceasefire was set to expire on Sunday.
The Lebanese and Israeli delegations issued positive statements about the talks, their third meeting since Israel intensified air attacks on Lebanon after Hezbollah fired missiles at Israel on March 2, three days into the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.
Hezbollah and Israel have continued to trade blows, with hostilities focused in southern Lebanon, where Israeli forces are occupying a self-declared security zone.
The U.S.-led mediation between Lebanon and Israel has emerged in parallel to diplomacy aimed at ending the U.S.-Iran conflict. Iran has said ending Israel's war in Lebanon is one of its demands for a deal over the wider conflict.
Lebanon's delegation, which is attending despite objections from Shi'ite Muslim Hezbollah, has prioritized a cessation in hostilities in the talks. Israel says Hezbollah must be disarmed as part of any broader peace agreement with Lebanon.
The Washington meetings, the highest-level contact between Lebanon and Israel in decades, have evolved to include security and military officials. Pigott said that a new "security track" of the negotiations would be launched at the Pentagon on May 29, while the State Department will convene the two sides again June 2-3 for a political track of negotiations.
