The second round of talks between Lebanon and Israel, mediated by the United States, will be held on Thursday in Washington. Beirut intends to request an extension of the ceasefire that has been in place since April 17 for an additional month.

A source from the Lebanese Embassy in Washington confirmed to Annahar that the meeting will take place today at 4 PM Washington time. 

On Wednesday, Israel invited Lebanon to "cooperate" with it to confront Hezbollah, which rejects these talks, asserting that there are no "serious disputes" with Lebanon.

The two countries, which have been officially at war since 1948, held a round of talks in Washington on April 14, marking the first such meeting since 1993 in an attempt to end the war.

Talks between Lebanon and Israel in Washington

Two days after these talks, the United States announced a ten-day truce in the war that resulted in more than 2,400 casualties in Lebanon and displaced over a million people.

Who Will Participate in This Round? 

As in the previous round, Thursday's talks will be attended by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Israeli Ambassador to Washington Yehiel Leiter, Lebanese Ambassador to the United States Nada Hamadeh Mouawad, and U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michael Issa.

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee will also join this time, according to an official from the U.S. State Department who spoke to AFP.

 Text of the Ceasefire Agreement 

According to the ceasefire agreement text published by the U.S. State Department last week, Israel reserves the "right to self-defense" against operations being conducted or planned against it.

A Lebanese official source told AFP on Wednesday, without revealing their identity, that "Lebanon will request an extension of the truce," which ends at the end of this week, "for a month and for Israel to stop bombing and destruction in areas where its army is present and to adhere to the ceasefire."

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun announced on Wednesday that "communications are ongoing to extend the ceasefire period."

He added, according to a statement from the presidency, "The negotiations being prepared are based on completely halting Israeli aggressions and achieving Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territories."

The two countries agreed during the first meeting to launch direct negotiations "at a mutually agreed time and place," according to U.S. State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott.

Lebanon appointed its former ambassador to Washington, Simon Karam, as the head of the negotiating delegation with Israel.

Martyrdom of journalist Amal Khalil in the raid that targeted her in Tyre, southern Lebanon

Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil was martyred on Wednesday by an Israeli raid in southern Lebanon after she was injured, along with another Lebanese journalist, Zeinab Faraj, due to the strike.