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Lebanese President Meets Delegation Chief ahead of Direct Israel Talks

A woman walks past a billboard depicting Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and sentence reading in Arabic 'The decision is up to Lebanon' EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
A woman walks past a billboard depicting Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and sentence reading in Arabic 'The decision is up to Lebanon' EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
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Lebanese President Meets Delegation Chief ahead of Direct Israel Talks

A woman walks past a billboard depicting Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and sentence reading in Arabic 'The decision is up to Lebanon' EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
A woman walks past a billboard depicting Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and sentence reading in Arabic 'The decision is up to Lebanon' EPA/WAEL HAMZEH

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Friday met with veteran diplomat Simon Karam, the head of the delegation headed to Washington for planned talks with Israel next week.

Lebanon and Israel's US ambassadors had previously met twice in Washington over the past weeks, in an attempt to end the war that started when Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East conflict on March 2.

Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi said in a statement Friday that Lebanon's goals from the negotiations were "consolidating the ceasefire, securing Israel's withdrawal from occupied Lebanese territory, and restoring the state's full sovereignty over its national territory".

Despite a truce that has been in place since April 17, Israel has repeatedly bombed Lebanon, mostly the country's south, and retained control over border areas.

In a statement from the presidency, Aoun said he and Karam discussed "preparations for the meeting scheduled for next Thursday in Washington between the Lebanese, American and Israeli delegations".

Aoun provided Karam with "directives outlining Lebanon's firm positions regarding the negotiations", the statement added.

A Lebanese official who requested anonymity told AFP that Karam "will head to Washington soon" to lead the Lebanese delegation.

The Lebanese ambassador to the US, the deputy chief of mission and a military representative will also be part of the delegation, the official added.

The ambassador-level meeting on April 14 was the first of its kind in decades, as the two countries have officially been at war since 1948.

Following the first round of talks, US President Donald Trump announced a 10-day ceasefire, with a three-week extension announced after the second round.

Trump also said he expected Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to meet jointly with him at the White House "over the next couple of weeks".

But Aoun said on Monday that "we must first reach a security agreement and stop the Israeli attacks on us before we raise the issue of a meeting between us".

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, at a news conference on Tuesday, said "there's no problem between the Lebanese government and the Israeli government" and that Hezbollah was the issue.

"By and large, I think a peace deal between Lebanon and Israel is eminently achievable and should be," Rubio said.

Hezbollah is strongly opposed to the direct talks, calling them a "sin" and urging Beirut to withdraw from them.

Israeli strikes have killed more than 2,700 in Lebanon since March 2, including dozens since the ceasefire was announced.

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Arab World

PM Says Lebanon Facing Dangerous Israeli Escalation

Destroyed buildings are pictured in the village of Kfar Kila in southern Lebanon as seen from across the border in the Upper Galilee region of northern Israel on May 29, 2026. (AFP)
Destroyed buildings are pictured in the village of Kfar Kila in southern Lebanon as seen from across the border in the Upper Galilee region of northern Israel on May 29, 2026. (AFP)
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PM Says Lebanon Facing Dangerous Israeli Escalation

Destroyed buildings are pictured in the village of Kfar Kila in southern Lebanon as seen from across the border in the Upper Galilee region of northern Israel on May 29, 2026. (AFP)
Destroyed buildings are pictured in the village of Kfar Kila in southern Lebanon as seen from across the border in the Upper Galilee region of northern Israel on May 29, 2026. (AFP)

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam denounced on Saturday what he called a dangerous Israeli escalation in the south, urging an immediate ceasefire and insisting that a "scorched-earth policy" would not ensure Israel's security.

In a televised address, Salam also defended his government's direct negotiations with Israel -- which Iran-backed Hezbollah opposes -- saying that the talks were the "least costly path" for Lebanon.

"In light of the dangerous and unprecedented Israeli escalation over the past few days, it is necessary to step up political and diplomatic efforts to achieve a swift and real ceasefire," Salam said.

He accused Israel of "pursuing a scorched-earth policy and collective punishment" by "destroying towns and villages, and forcing their inhabitants into exile".

This will bring "neither security nor stability" to Israel, he said.

Salam's broadcast came after Israel's military issued new evacuation warnings for residents of more south Lebanon villages, and a day after military delegations from both countries held landmark security talks in Washington.

Those talks took place ahead of US-brokered negotiations early next week -- the fourth round since the latest Israel-Hezbollah conflict erupted in March.

Salam said the outcome of the direct negotiations with Israel was "not guaranteed", but that they "are the least costly path for our country and our people".

A US statement after Friday's talks made no mention of a ceasefire, and Israel has recently intensified its air and ground operations against Hezbollah.

A truce to halt the fighting officially took effect on April 17, but has never been observed.

Arab World

Kataib Hezbollah Vows to Keep Arms as Iraq Faces US Pressure to Disarm Groups

Fighters carry flags of Iraq and paramilitary groups, including Kataib Hezbollah, during a funeral in Baghdad for five militants killed in a US strike in northern Iraq, on Dec. 4, 2023. (AFP via Getty Images)
Fighters carry flags of Iraq and paramilitary groups, including Kataib Hezbollah, during a funeral in Baghdad for five militants killed in a US strike in northern Iraq, on Dec. 4, 2023. (AFP via Getty Images)
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Kataib Hezbollah Vows to Keep Arms as Iraq Faces US Pressure to Disarm Groups

Fighters carry flags of Iraq and paramilitary groups, including Kataib Hezbollah, during a funeral in Baghdad for five militants killed in a US strike in northern Iraq, on Dec. 4, 2023. (AFP via Getty Images)
Fighters carry flags of Iraq and paramilitary groups, including Kataib Hezbollah, during a funeral in Baghdad for five militants killed in a US strike in northern Iraq, on Dec. 4, 2023. (AFP via Getty Images)

The influential Iraqi armed group Kataib Hezbollah pledged on Saturday to keep up its "action", as Baghdad faces mounting US pressure to disarm factions backed by Iran.

Following the outbreak of the US-Israeli war on Iran at the end of February, groups operating under the banner of the "Islamic Resistance in Iraq" carried out repeated drone and rocket attacks on US interests in the country.

Washington, in turn, bombed facilities and bases belonging to the groups, including Kataib Hezbollah, killing dozens of their members.

Since taking office in mid-May, Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has pledged to restrict weapons to the hands of the state.

But in a statement on Saturday, Kataib Hezbollah security chief Abu Mujahid al-Assaf said "action is today a collective duty, and we will carry it out on behalf of the brothers who have decided to abandon it".

While some factions have shown willingness to operate under state institutions, others, like Kataib Hezbollah, refuse to discuss disarmament under US pressure.

Assaf suggested that Kataib Hezbollah was willing to work with those other groups, and was "also prepared to pay for" weapons they no longer needed.

He said his group was ready "to cooperate and play a constructive role" by supervising the transfer and storage of weapons, and receiving specialized weapons such as cruise missiles, for which "there are no experts within state agencies".

Kataib Hezbollah insists it will not discuss its weapons so long as foreign forces remain deployed in Iraq's northern Kurdistan region as part of a US-led international coalition formed in 2014 to fight the extremist ISIS group.

The coalition is scheduled to end its mission in the Kurdistan region by September.

Earlier this month, a senior US State Department official had demanded Iraq take "concrete actions" on pro-Iran armed groups, preconditioning renewed support on "expelling terrorist militias from any state institution" and cutting off payments to them.

Arab World

Israeli Strike Kills Nurse in Gaza

Mourners take the last look at the body of Jamal Abu Aoun, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike, during his funeral at al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Saturday May 30, 2026. (AP)
Mourners take the last look at the body of Jamal Abu Aoun, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike, during his funeral at al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Saturday May 30, 2026. (AP)
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Israeli Strike Kills Nurse in Gaza

Mourners take the last look at the body of Jamal Abu Aoun, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike, during his funeral at al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Saturday May 30, 2026. (AP)
Mourners take the last look at the body of Jamal Abu Aoun, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike, during his funeral at al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Saturday May 30, 2026. (AP)

A Palestinian nurse was killed in an Israeli strike on Gaza Saturday, hospital authorities said, the latest death by Israeli fire since a shaky ceasefire halted major fighting in the enclave last year.

The strike late Saturday morning hit a Hamas-manned police point in the central city of Deir al-Balah. At least three other people were wounded, according to the city’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital, which received the casualties.

The Israeli military didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The dead nurse was identified as Jamal Abu Aoun, who worked at Yafa Hospital in Deir al-Balah. His funeral was held at noon in the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital’s courtyard.

He was the latest fatality among Palestinians in the coastal enclave since a fragile October ceasefire deal attempted to halt a more than two-year war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

While the heaviest fighting has subsided, the shaky ceasefire has seen almost daily Israeli fire. Israeli forces have carried out repeated airstrikes and frequently fire on Palestinians near military-held zones, killing at least 929 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government, maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by United Nations agencies and independent experts. But it does not give a breakdown of civilians and militants.

Fighters have carried out shooting attacks on troops, and Israel says its strikes are in response to that and other violations. Four Israeli soldiers have been killed since the ceasefire.