Israel, Lebanon agree to 45-day ceasefire extension
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- Israel and Lebanon agreed to a 45-day extension of their temporary ceasefire, announced by State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott on Friday after U.S.-hosted "highly-productive" talks Thursday and Friday
- The original 10-day agreement began April 16 and had already been extended once to Thursday before this 45-day renewal
- The State Department will reconvene negotiations June 2-3, and the Pentagon will host a security track with military delegations from Iran and Lebanon starting May 29
- Hezbollah has refused to participate in the negotiations and opposes the ceasefire; Israel said a Hezbollah missile severely injured two people on Thursday, while the Lebanese health ministry reported 22 killed in Israeli Wednesday strikes
- Tommy Pigott said the U.S. is cognizant of Hezbollah's continued attacks being carried out "without the consent or approval of the Government of Lebanon" in an effort to derail the process
Why it matters: The extension buys 45 more days of a formal halt, but violations are ongoing: a Hezbollah missile injured two Israelis on Thursday and Israeli Wednesday strikes killed 22 in Lebanon, and Hezbollah itself is boycotting the talks. The next hard deadlines are the May 29 Pentagon security track and June 2-3 State Department talks, with no sign Hezbollah will join.
