Israeli officials call to reopen discreet talks with Lebanon: Yedioth Ahronoth

Israeli officials believe now is the time to reopen discreet channels of communication with senior Lebanese military leaders, the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Sunday.

In his opinion piece, Israeli journalist Smadar Perry advocated for communication between Lebanon and Israel, saying that with the "cease-fire already partially in place, the next step would be to bring in a mediator to facilitate a trilateral meeting," to ease tensions between the states.

The Deputy United States Special Envoy to the Middle East, Morgan Ortagus, who is expected to visit Lebanon soon, has previously called for open dialogue between Lebanon and Israel, claiming that the Lebanese president supports diplomatic negotiations. A day earlier, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun dismissed normalization as an option but said he was open to including “civilian experts” in working groups with Israel.

On Friday at midday, four months after a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect, Israel carried out an airstrike on Beirut’s southern suburbs — the first since the truce began. The escalation followed the firing of two rockets toward northern Israel earlier that day, one of which fell short and landed in Lebanese territory.