Israel-Lebanon Talks Today; Hezbollah Might Accept US Mediation.

Washington DC; April 2026: Israel and Lebanon are scheduled to hold another round of talks in Washington, DC, later today (23rd April 2026) during which Lebanon plans to request a one-month extension of a ceasefire due to expire within days, as per official sources. While, quoting an unnamed Hezbollah official, the report said the group might accept indirect talks mediated by the US as part of the ongoing negotiation process.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said yesterday (22nd April 2026) that Israel does not have any “serious disagreements” with Lebanon, calling Hezbollah “the obstacle to peace and normalisation”. Despite a 10-day truce, Israeli forces continue to attack Lebanon, killing civilians, including Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil yesterday, and demolishing Lebanese homes in areas still under Israeli occupation. Israeli attacks have killed at least 2,454 people since the start of the war in early March, according to Lebanese authorities.

Journalist Amal Khalil was killed yesterday (22nd April 2026 local time) in an Israeli air strike on a house in the southern village of at-Tiri in southern Lebanon while reporting for al-Akhbar newspaper.

Khalil had taken cover in the house after an earlier Israeli air strike, which the Lebanese Health Ministry said killed two people near the car she was travelling in with another colleague. A second Israeli strike then hit the house where Khalil and her colleague Zeinab Faraj had taken cover.

At first, rescue workers were able to get to Faraj, who was seriously wounded, and also recover the bodies of two people killed in the first air strike, but they were fired on by Israeli forces, so they were forced to halt attempts to reach Khalil, the ministry said. Khalil remained under the rubble for hours before the Lebanese army, civil defence, and the Lebanese Red Cross were able to get to the scene hours later. Khalil’s body was retrieved shortly before midnight (local time; early today morning IST), at least six hours after the Israeli strike.

Lebanon’s Information Minister Paul Morcos condemned the Israeli attack on the journalists. “We strongly condemn this assault, holding Israel fully responsible for their safety, and affirming the necessity of immediately ensuring their protection and guaranteeing freedom of media work,” Morcos said on X.

The Israeli military statement said it “does not target journalists and acts to mitigate harm to them” while also denying preventing rescue services from reaching the site of the attack in at-Tiri. Last month, an Israeli attack on a clearly marked press vehicle killed three journalists in southern Lebanon.

Separately on Wednesday, two people were killed and several others wounded in an Israeli attack on the town of Yohmor al-Shaqif, also in southern Lebanon, NNA reported.

The Lebanese armed group said it attacked an Israeli artillery position in southern Lebanon with a drone, in response to what it said was an Israeli violation of the ceasefire. The Israeli military said it had intercepted “a hostile aircraft” launched ‌‌by Hezbollah towards Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon.

Hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel reignited on March 02nd after Israel killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Up until then, the Iran-backed group had not attacked Israel since a November 2024 ceasefire, despite near-daily breaches of the deal by Israel.

More than 2,400 people have been killed in Lebanon since Israel launched its offensive and subsequent invasion of southern Lebanon. Israel has seized a belt of territory at the border where its troops remain.

The latest attacks come on the eve of planned ⁠⁠talks in Washington between Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors as Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Beirut would seek an extension of the 10-day, United States-mediated ceasefire, which is set to expire on Sunday.

The US-brokered ceasefire in Lebanon emerged separately from Washington’s efforts to resolve its ⁠⁠conflict with Tehran, though Iran had called for Lebanon to be included in the agreement.

Team Maverick.