Israel-Lebanon talks end early as Israel renews southern Lebanon strikes

US-mediated talks between Israel and Lebanon ended earlier than expected on Wednesday amid renewed Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon. A US State Department official said the discussions in Rome concluded early, at 3:30 p.m. local time, “due to events on the ground.” Another source said Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter “asked the American side to suspend the talks approximately three hours before their scheduled conclusion, following repeated misleading leaks by the Lebanese delegation.” They did not elaborate on what the “misleading leaks” were. A Lebanese diplomatic source said the US delegation requested a suspension of negotiations “to conduct its own consultations.” All of the sources confirmed that the talks are expected to resume Thursday morning. But the Lebanese diplomatic source noted that “significant developments on the ground” could prevent the resumption of the delicate technical negotiations. This source said that contacts are ongoing to de-escalate the situation. The US State Department official said the “discussions focused on a range of political and military issues and were extremely productive.” “The technical teams made progress on determining key details on implementation of the Trilateral Framework,” the official said, referring to an agreement signed in June by Israel, Lebanon and the United States and aimed at ending hostilities between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia. The Israeli army ordered residents of the southern Lebanese village of Mansouri to leave on Wednesday afternoon. It later said it had begun carrying out “precise strikes” against Hezbollah targets in the area in response to a “complete violation of the ceasefire.” Kara Fox, Dani Karni, and Ibrahim Dahman contributed reporting.