BEIRUT — US President Donald Trump has announced that the leaders of Israel and Lebanon will speak to each other for the first time in 34 years on Thursday. The announcement, made on Trump’s Truth Social account on Wednesday, came a day after Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors held their first direct diplomatic talks in more than three decades in Washington, DC, with Lebanon seeking to end Israel’s devastating attacks on the country. “Trying to get a little breathing room between Israel and Lebanon,” Trump wrote. “It has been a long time since the two leaders have spoken, like 34 years. It will happen tomorrow. Nice!” The US president did not specify which leaders would be involved in the talks.There was no official confirmation from Israel or Lebanon. However, Gila Gamliel, a member of Israel’s security cabinet, told Israel’s Army Radio on Thursday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be speaking with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun. Lebanese officials told news agencies they had “no information” about any upcoming contact or talks with Israel’s leadership, while Aoun stressed the importance of a ceasefire before any direct negotiations. Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has said a ceasefire in Lebanon is “as important” as a ceasefire in Iran, according to a statement he posted on Telegram. On talks to end the war between Iran and the United States, Ghalibaf wrote on Thursday that Tehran has “been striving to compel our enemies to establish a permanent ceasefire in all the conflict zones, in accordance with the agreement”. “For us, a ceasefire in Lebanon is just as important as a ceasefire in Iran,” Ghalibaf said he had told Lebanon’s Nabih Berri in a phone conversation. Ghalibaf led the Iranian delegation at the first US-Iran meeting in Pakistan last week, which ended without a deal.Tehran has consistently said that the Iran war ceasefire must apply to Lebanon as well, something the US and Israel claim is not part of the deal. Ghalibaf told Berri that the Iranians “have never forgotten our Lebanese brothers and consider them to be among us”, the post on Telegram added. The Lebanese parliament speaker then detailed the latest Israeli attacks on Lebanon, the post continued, and told Ghalibaf that so far 1.2 million Lebanese people have been displaced by the fighting. “Israel is literally committing crimes in our country and seeking to displace Lebanese people,” the post quoted Berri as saying. — Agencies
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