Lebanon to form delegation for talks as Israel presses campaign

BEIRUT

Lebanon is preparing to form a delegation to negotiate with Israel in a bid to stop the war with Iran-backed Hezbollah, an official told AFP on March 14, as Israel is planning to launch a “massive” ground invasion of southern Lebanon.

"Negotiations are on the table and preparations are underway to form a delegation, but... neither the timing nor the location has been determined, with Paris and [Greek] Cyprus being considered," the official said, adding, "We also need an Israeli commitment to a truce."

An Axios report on March 14 cited sources as saying the French government had drafted a plan to end the war in Lebanon that would require the government in Beirut to officially recognize Israel.

Israel is fighting a second front in the war in the Middle East in southern Lebanon, against Hezbollah, alongside the air campaign against Iran it launched with the United States more than two weeks ago.

Overnight strikes in southern Lebanon killed at least four people, Lebanese state media and the government said on March 15, as Israel said it was pressing its campaign against Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) said Israel struck "an apartment in a residential building" in a northern district of the coastal city of Sidon, killing one person and causing a fire.

Axios also reported that Israel is preparing a “large-scale” ground offensive in southern Lebanon aimed at driving the Iran-backed Hezbollah group away from the border and eliminating its weapons caches and military positions.

According to the report, the plan envisions Israeli forces taking control of the entire area south of the Litani River, which runs across Lebanon from east to west.

“We will do what we did in Gaza,” a senior Israeli official told Axios.

“The objective is to capture territory, push Hezbollah fighters northward away from the border, and dismantle their military infrastructure and weapons depots in the villages,” the official said.