Israel-Lebanon Talks Collapse Amid Fresh Strikes
The US-brokered talks between Israel and Lebanon in Rome collapsed on Thursday, cut short amid a fresh eruption of violence along the border. Israel launched air strikes into southern Lebanon after a roadside bomb killed two of its reservists, and Lebanon said at least one person was killed and a dozen wounded in the retaliation. Washington blamed “events on the ground” for the breakdown.
The abrupt end to the negotiations, which had been meant to run into Thursday, dashed hopes of a step towards stabilising a border that keeps reigniting. Israel accused Hezbollah of violating the ceasefire with the bomb; the group, which had denounced the talks as a “humiliation”, has an interest in showing it cannot be sidelined. Each side gave its own account of the casualties, which could not be independently verified. The failure leaves the frontier as tense as ever, even as hundreds of thousands of displaced Lebanese have begun returning home. Watch whether the violence escalates or the talks resume.