Lebanese President Briefs US Ambassador Ahead of Third Lebanon-Israel Meeting

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has briefed US Ambassador Michel Issa on the latest developments regarding the third Lebanon-Israel meeting, which is expected to take place this week in the United States. According to the Lebanese presidency, Aoun emphasised the importance of pressing Israel to end its ceasefire violations, ongoing military operations, and the demolition and bulldozing of homes.

The briefing came as Israeli air attacks continued across southern Lebanon. The strikes killed at least four people, including two brothers in Nabatieh, and wounded five others. An air raid on the village of Abba killed 78-year-old Najia Hassan Rammal and her 11-year-old grandson Fadl Wahab Tarhini, destroying their home, the National News Agency reported.

A separate strike on Jarjouaa killed brothers Ali and Nidal Naeem Moussa and wounded another person. The Israeli military had earlier issued new evacuation warnings to residents of nine areas in southern Lebanon ahead of further attacks.

Ministry reported that Israeli attacks in the previous 24 hours killed 51 people, including two medical workers. Hezbollah stated that its fighters targeted Israeli military positions in southern Lebanon, forcing them to change positions. The Israeli army said one soldier was killed by a Hezbollah drone attack and three others were injured by a booby-trapped drone explosion.

Iran’s foreign minister spoke by phone with his Saudi counterpart to discuss ongoing negotiations between Iran and the United States. A wide gap remains between US and Iranian demands to end the broader conflict, according to reporting from Tehran. A second Qatari LNG tanker is transiting the Strait of Hormuz days after the first such cargo crossed under an arrangement involving Iran and Pakistan.

The vessel Mihzem, with a capacity of 174,000 cubic metres, left Qatar’s Ras Laffan port and is heading to Port Qasim in Pakistan.

Dome defence system has been about 99 percent effective against missiles from Hamas and Hezbollah, according to its manufacturer Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. Chairman Yuval Steinitz said only several dozen of the ballistic missiles fired from Iran were not intercepted, while most of roughly 1,500 missiles were knocked out.

Since the October 2023 attack on Israel, Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon have fired around 40,000 rockets at Israel, he added. He stated that nuclear material, enriched uranium, enrichment sites, and Iranian proxies still needed to be addressed.