Donald Trump hosts Israel–Lebanon ceasefire talks at White House as clashes with Hezbollah intensify

US President Donald Trump will greet Lebanese and Israeli envoys at the White House as they meet for a second round of US-facilitated talks.

Lebanon is seeking to extend a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, a day after Israeli strikes killed at least five people, including a journalist.

The ceasefire, reached after talks between the two countries’ ambassadors to Washington DC last week and set to expire on Sunday, has yielded a significant reduction in violence.

Attacks have continued in southern Lebanon, however, where Israeli troops have seized a self-declared buffer zone.

Iran-aligned Hezbollah says it has “the right to resist” occupying forces.

A US official said Thursday’s talks, initially set to be hosted by the State Department, were being moved to the White House and that Trump would greet the ambassadors upon their arrival.

“It’s a sign of the importance that they are being given and the priority. I think there’s a feeling of optimism that the ball can move forward,” a separate source briefed on the matter said.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said on Thursday that Lebanon’s ambassador to the US, Nada Moawad, would seek a ceasefire extension and a halt to demolitions by Israel in villages in the south.

Recent contacts with Mr Trump and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had focused on halting escalation and launching negotiations aimed at ending the state of war, securing Israel’s withdrawal from occupied territory and deploying the Lebanese army to the international border, the Lebanese presidency said in a statement.

The Israeli military said on Thursday that it killed two armed individuals in southern Lebanon after identifying them approaching soldiers and posing what it described as “an immediate threat”.

It was not immediately clear whether the incident was related to strikes reported earlier in nearby areas by Lebanon’s health ministry, which said an Israeli air strike had killed three people and artillery shelling wounded two others, including a child.

Wednesday was Lebanon’s deadliest day since the ceasefire took effect on April 16.

Those killed by Israeli strikes included Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil, according to a senior Lebanese military official and her employer al-Akhbar newspaper.

Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah said the group wanted the ceasefire to continue but “on the basis of full compliance by the Israeli enemy”.

At a televised press conference, he reiterated Hezbollah’s objections to the face-to-face talks and urged the government to cancel all forms of direct contact with Israel.

Hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel reignited on March 2, when the group opened fire in support of Iran in the regional war.

The ceasefire in Lebanon emerged separately from US efforts to resolve its conflict with Iran although Iran had called for Lebanon to be included in any broader truce.

Hezbollah said it carried out four operations in south Lebanon on Wednesday in response to Israeli strikes.

Nearly 2500 people have been killed in Lebanon since Israel went on the offensive following Hezbollah’s March 2 attack, according to Lebanese authorities.

Israel is occupying a belt of the south that extends 5 to 10km into Lebanon, saying it aims to shield northern Israel from attacks by Hezbollah, which has fired hundreds of rockets during the war.

Israel’s military reiterated a warning to residents of South Lebanon not to cross into the area.