US says Israel-Lebanon talks at State Department ‘productive and positive’

A third round of US-mediated talks between Israel and Lebanon wrapped up Thursday after a full day of negotiations at the State Department, with negotiations set to continue Friday, a senior State Department official told Anadolu.

“We had a full day of productive and positive talks that lasted from 9 am to 5 pm. We look forward to continuing this tomorrow and hope to have more to share then,” the official said.

The talks came as the death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks on Lebanon continued to rise, despite a US-mediated ceasefire that took effect on April 17 and was extended until May 17.

A State Department official told Anadolu that the US was represented by US State Department Counselor Michael Needham, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa.

Lebanon was represented by Ambassador Nada Hamadeh Moawad and Lebanese presidential special envoy Simon Karam, the official said.

Ambassador Yechiel Leiter, Deputy National Security Advisor Yossi Draznin and senior military representatives represented Israel.

Earlier Thursday, an Israeli strike on a residential complex in the southern Lebanese town of Srifa in Tyre killed two people, according to Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA).

In a separate attack, one person was injured in a drone strike in an area between the towns of Breqaa and Zrariyeh in Nabatieh, NNA said.

Israeli warplanes also carried out strikes in the towns of Ain al-Tineh, Yahmar, Loubaya and Sohmor in the western Bekaa region of eastern Lebanon. No information was available about casualties.

Since March 2, Israeli attacks in Lebanon have killed at least 2,896 people, injured over 8,824 and displaced more than 1.6 million, about one-fifth of the country’s population, according to Lebanese officials.