The 10-day truce Israel has accepted with Lebanon offers an opportunity for “historic peace” with the country, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday evening, but reiterated his demand for the disarmament of the pro-Iranian Lebanese group Hezbollah as a precondition for any deal.
“We have an opportunity for a historic peace agreement with Lebanon,” said Netanyahu, who specified that the Israeli armed forces would “remain in southern Lebanon in a border strip 10 km deep,” reports France Presse and Agerpres.
US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun had agreed to a ten-day truce starting at 21:00 GMT (00:00 in Romania). That deal “will include (Lebanese Islamist movement) Hezbollah,” he later added.
Donald Trump also announced that he would invite the Lebanese and Israeli leaders to Washington, but did not mention any timetable.
There has never been an official meeting between an Israeli prime minister and a sitting Lebanese president, AFP notes.
Direct talks took place in Washington on Tuesday between the ambassadors of the two countries, the first of this kind since 1993.
Joseph Aoun rejected a request for direct contact with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, an official source told AFP, ahead of Donald Trump's announcements.
However, the Lebanese presidency confirmed a call on Thursday with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, saying that President Aoun “thanked Washington for its efforts towards a truce” with Israel.
