Israel says Netanyahu will call Aoun, Lebanon says 'not aware' of any upcoming contact
Lebanon is "not aware" of any upcoming contact with Israel, an official source told AFP, after U.S. President Donald Trump said the leaders of leaders of Lebanon and Israel would speak on Thursday.
"We are not aware of any planned contact with the Israeli side, and we have not been informed of any through official channels," the source said.
Trump wrote on his Truth Social network earlier that Washington was "trying to get a little breathing room between Israel and Lebanon. It has been a long time since the two leaders have spoken, like 34 years. It will happen tomorrow."
Israel's Minister for Innovation, Science and Technology Gila Gamliel, a member of Netanyahu's Likud party, said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will speak with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Thursday.
"The prime minister will speak for the first time with the president of Lebanon after so many years of a complete breakdown in dialogue between the two countries," Gamliel told Israeli Army Radio on Thursday. "This move will hopefully ultimately lead to prosperity and flourishing for Lebanon as a state," she added.
But Aoun did not confirm the call, and, in a statement from his office, stressed the importance of agreeing a ceasefire as a starting point for negotiations.
"The ceasefire requested by Lebanon with Israel is the natural starting point for direct negotiations between the two countries," Aoun said in his statement.
Local media reports said that during a phone call on Thursday, President Aoun informed U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio that he refuses to speak directly with Netanyahu.
Trump's announcement comes as Washington pushes to ease hostilities following the first direct talks between the two countries in decades this week, when their ambassadors met in the U.S. capital.
"Trying to get a little breathing room between Israel and Lebanon," Trump said Wednesday on his Truth Social platform, referring to the ambassadors meeting held in Washington the day before -- the first meeting of its kind since 1993.
Analyst Michael Young of the Carnegie Middle East Center told AFP that there had never before been contact between the leaders of Lebanon and Israel.
In September 1982, Bachir Gemayel, elected Lebanese president in the wake of an Israeli invasion, met with Israeli leaders but was assassinated before taking office.
In 1992 and 1993, diplomats from the two countries met in Washington in the wake of a Middle East peace process launched at a conference in Madrid.
- 'Durable peace' -
A senior U.S. administration official stressed that any end to the hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon is not part of talks between Washington and Tehran.
"The president would welcome the end of hostilities in Lebanon as part of a peace agreement between Israel and Lebanon," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"The United States wants to see a durable peace but did not demand an immediate ceasefire," the official said. "Negotiations between the U.S. and Iran are not linked to ongoing peace talks between Israel and Lebanon."
Washington's focus is on building trust between the Lebanese and Israeli governments "so that we can create space for a peace deal, and so that any future understandings can be durable."
"Both sides need to build political momentum," the official added.
Israel and Lebanon agreed on Tuesday to begin direct negotiations following the talks between the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors.
Netanyahu spoke on Wednesday of two central objectives in the talks: "First, the dismantling of Hezbollah; second, a sustainable peace... achieved through strength."
The Lebanese ambassador, Nada Hamadeh Moawad, said she had called for a ceasefire in Lebanon during the meeting, which Israel has so far rejected.
Hezbollah condemned the talks, calling them "capitulation."
Source: Agence France Presse
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