When the third round of U.S.-mediated Israel-Lebanon talks ended at the State Department in Washington on May 15, the United States announced a 45-day extension of the April 16 ceasefire in Lebanon. State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott sounded an upbeat note, describing the two-day talks as “highly productive.”

“We hope these discussions will advance lasting peace between the two countries, full recognition of each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and establishing genuine security along their shared border,” he said.

The U.S., he went on to say, believes that “comprehensive peace is contingent on the full restoration of Lebanese state authority and the complete disarmament of Hezbollah. These talks aim to break decisively from the failed approach of the past two decades, which allowed terrorist groups to entrench and enrich themselves, undermine the authority of the Lebanese state, and endanger Israel’s northern border.”

Israel’s chief representative at the negotiations, Yechiel Leiter, the Israeli ambassador to the United States, realistically called the current truce “a ceasefire in aspiration.” But in a post on X, he wrote that the most recent talks had been “frank and constructive” and that “the potential for success is great.”

The third round, for the first time, included military officials from both sides. Israel’s acting defence attache to the United States, General Arik Ben Dov, and the head of the army’s strategic division, General Amichai Levin, represented Israel.

The Lebanese officials remained unidentified.

Lebanon’s delegation, headed by its ambassador in Washington, Nada Hamadeh Moawad, welcomed the renewal of the ceasefire and said she looked forward to further talks on June 2 and June 3 and the launch of a new security track at the Pentagon on May 29.

The elephant in the room, of course, was Hezbollah, a proxy of Iran. Hezbollah has not participated in the talks and has blasted the Lebanese government for having conducted negotiations with Israel.

Its absence from the proceedings is a matter of importance because Hezbollah and Israel have ignored the ceasefire and are still very much at war.

As the third round of talks got under way, Hezbollah continued to fire missiles and drones at Israel, while an Israeli soldier, Negev Dagan, 20, was killed during a clash with Hezbollah near the Litani River in southern Lebanon. His death brought to 19 the number of Israeli soldiers who have died since the current round of hostilities erupted on March 2, following U.S. and Israeli air strikes in Iran.

Two Israeli civilians have been killed by Hezbollah rockets, and an Israeli civilian was mistakenly killed in the Galilee by........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)