Israeli and Lebanese military officials are set to meet for talks at the Pentagon on Friday aimed at resolving their decades-long conflict. The new meeting comes as fighting increasingly shakes what’s left of a ceasefire between the two countries, and as the United States and Iran also look to extend their ceasefire to give more time for negotiations.
Israel issued sweeping evacuation orders to residents in seven towns and villages on Friday ahead of airstrikes on southern Lebanon, adding to evacuation orders across the region on Wednesday. The Iranian-backed Lebanese militia Hezbollah has launched a surge of drones on northern Israel in recent days, including one that killed Israeli soldier Rotem Yanai on Wednesday in a hit on a military zone on the Israeli side of the border.
The US has hosted Israeli and Lebanese negotiators for three rounds of talks since a ceasefire was declared in mid-April. Friday’s discussions are due to launch a “security track” of negotiations between the countries’ military delegations, focused on fortifying their strained ceasefire, according to the State Department. Next Tuesday and Wednesday, negotiations are scheduled to focus on the “political track,” aimed at lasting calm.
Meanwhile, the US and Iran have reportedly reached a tentative deal to extend their ceasefire by 60 days, pending US President Donald Trump’s approval.
Vice President JD Vance did not confirm whether the president would sign the agreement when speaking to the press Thursday night. “The president will be in a position where he can endorse the agreement, but obviously that’s still TBD,” he told reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. Vance also said that he “can’t guarantee” a deal will be reached. Trump has yet to comment on the proposal.
The expectation is that any deal would include opening the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s effective closure of the strait, a pathway for a fifth of the world’s oil and gas, has sent energy prices soaring and placed increasing pressure on the Trump administration. Oil prices dipped slightly on Thursday following news of the tentative deal.
Trump and his officials have repeatedly suggested that the US was close to a deal with Iran. In a Truth Social post on Saturday, Trump said that an agreement had been “largely negotiated,” including opening Hormuz, and that “final aspects and details of the Deal are currently being discussed, and will be announced shortly.”
US, Iran trade strikes
The report of a potential deal and Vance’s comments come amid a fresh round of clashes between the countries. Iran launched a missile at a US airbase in Kuwait on Thursday, hours after the US fired at Bandar Abbas, an Iranian port city near the Strait of Hormuz. It is the second time in three days that the US has attacked targets in Iran, saying they were conducted in self-defense to intercept drones.
Both countries claim the other has violated the current ceasefire.
IAF strikes Beirut suburbs
Israel and Hezbollah are also engaged in mounting hostilities despite an ostensible pause in the fighting. The Israeli Air Force widened its offensive in Lebanon on Thursday with a strike on the suburbs of Beirut, days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to escalate attacks.
An Israeli security source told The Times of Israel that the target of the attack was Ali al-Husni, the head of an Iranian militia that operates alongside Hezbollah. Meanwhile, Lebanese authorities said that at least 14 people, including children, were also killed that day in Israeli strikes.