High-ranking military representatives from Lebanon and Israel will meet at the Pentagon on Friday for a fourth round of US-backed talks as Beirut’s willingness and ability to disarm Hezbollah takes centre stage.
Israel and Lebanon last met in Washington two weeks ago and agreed to extend a ceasefire for 45 days. The Pentagon talks are separate but parallel to a continuing diplomatic track at the State Department and White House.
Despite the truce, Israel has continued to conduct strikes, including against what it says are Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon and in Beirut, while the Iran-backed militants strike Israeli troops and adapt battlefield tactics to make greater use of small combat drones.
The Israeli army on Thursday attacked the Beirut suburbs and declared its warplanes were "operating non-stop" over Lebanon. An Israeli strike hit a building in Beirut's southern suburbs in the first attack there in weeks. The target was believed to be Hezbollah official Ali Al Husseini, whose fate was unclear.
The Israeli army also struck the southern city of Tyre, a day after telling its entire population to vacate the area. The Lebanese army - not a direct party to the fighting - said one of its troops, Sgt Alaa Mahmoud Madlaj, was killed on Thursday in an Israeli air strike on a road.
The Pentagon has not provided information about the talks, which the State Department has said are aimed at improving military-to-military communication, but Lebanon and Israel come to the table with differing priorities.
Israel wants to push Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah and force the Iran-backed militants to end attacks on northern Israel, while Beirut wants to know when the Israeli army will withdraw from southern Lebanon, which it invaded in March.
Despite the supposed ceasefire, the situation on the ground is deteriorating rapidly, and the Israeli army on Wednesday ordered the mass displacement of all of southern Lebanon.
Hanin Ghaddar, a senior fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said Lebanon would be seeking reassurances from the US that it would support the state if it goes after Hezbollah.
Many in Beirut remember 2008, when the George W Bush administration supposedly backed the government but failed to act decisively when Hezbollah took over parts of the capital.
“There is a matter of trust,” Ms Ghaddar said. The US needs to provide “reassurances to the Lebanese government that this time we will stick with you, you will not be alone.”
Speaking at a panel discussion, Ms Ghaddar, who is from Lebanon, said the government lacks the political will to tackle Hezbollah.
“Hezbollah will never surrender their arms,” she said. “As the discussion on Hezbollah's disarmament continues, Hezbollah is rebuilding actually their arms and gathering more arms.
“It's mostly a political decision by the Lebanese government and President [Joseph Aoun] that they do not want to confront Hezbollah at all.”
Mr Aoun this month vowed to “do the impossible” to stop Israel's war.
Israel meanwhile has accused the Lebanese army of being at least partially sympathetic to Hezbollah.
Retired Israeli army commander Assaf Orion said Israeli troops had uncovered large numbers of Hezbollah weapons in areas of southern Lebanon that had been supposedly cleared by the Lebanese Armed Forces.
“The amount of weapons there is huge, so somebody either didn't do his job or lied about it,” Mr Orion told the Washington Institute panel. “Collusion is part of the explanation … the Lebanese Armed Forces have to be purged from collaborators and infiltrators and turncoats.”
Israeli army spokesman Brig Gen Effie Defrin on Thursday said Israeli troops had been instructed to "intensify the strikes and deepen the blows against Hezbollah" as they try to wipe out the group's chain of command.
The Israeli air force "is operating non-stop, striking Hezbollah in Lebanon," he said. "We are not stopping for a moment - our soldiers continue to degrade Hezbollah through surprising and bold operations."
An Israeli military official meanwhile said that Hezbollah's use of small drones is a "main focus". The armed group has posted videos on social media of drones striking Israeli soldiers in the type of footage more normally associated with Ukraine's front lines.
"The battlefield in Lebanon is changing fast and our ability to adapt to the situation is a top priority," the official said.
