Lebanon and Israel set for direct talks in Washington

Washington: Lebanon and Israel resumed direct talks in Washington on Thursday to discuss extending a 10-day ceasefire. Lebanese Ambassa­dor Nada Hamadeh Moawad and Israeli counterpart Yechiel Leiter are meeting for the second time in days. Lebanon President Joseph Aoun confirmed on Wednes­day that contacts are ongoing to maintain the truce following the war that began on March 2. 

Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar urged Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah, calling the group the sole obstacle to peace. Hezbollah has rejected the talks, with official Wafiq Safa stating the group will not abide by any agreements made during these direct negotiations.

Journalist killed in in attack on house

A Lebanese journalist was killed on Wednesday in an Israeli airstrike on a house in southern Lebanon where she had taken cover while reporting on the Israel-Hezbollah war. Her body was only retrieved from the rubble hours later, rescuers said.

Khalil had been covering the conflict in Lebanon between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah militant group that resumed in early March, in the shadow of the US-Israeli war in Iran. She took cover in the house in al-Tiri after an earlier Israeli airstrike hit near the car she was travelling in with another colleague. The Lebanese health ministry said the first strike killed two people. A second Israeli strike then hit the house in al-Tiri where Khalil and her colleague Zeinab Faraj had taken cover.

BEIrut: Israel razing houses during truce

The Israeli army is destroying homes in southern Lebanon occupied after last week’s ceasefire, claiming they serv­ed as Hezbollah outposts. 

Residents and UN peace­ke­epers fear large-scale demolitions will leave displaced peo­ple with nowhere to return. In Beit Lif, journalists observed the village had been almost entirely flattened. Israeli Defe­nce Minister Israel Katz said the area was being cleared of terror infrastructure. Lebano­n’s National News Agency reported systematic bombing operations, described as a bid to erase their identity.

—AP