Netanyahu: Direct negotiations with Lebanon to happen ‘as quickly as attainable’ – One America Information Community

[ad_1] <img decoding="async" width="800" height="534" src="https://www.oann.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/GettyImages-2253970255-800x534.jpg" alt="PALM BEACH, FLORIDA - DECEMBER 29: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a press conference with U.S. President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago on December 29, 2025 in Palm Beach, Florida. The two leaders held a bilateral meeting to discuss regional security in the Middle East as well as the U.S.-Israel partnership. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)" class="wp-image-769610"/> Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a press convention with U.S. President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago on December 29, 2025, in Palm Seashore, Florida. (Picture by Joe Raedle/Getty Photographs)

OAN Employees Katherine Mosack and Brooke Mallory6:30 PM – Thursday, April 9, 2026

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly licensed direct negotiations with Lebanon to start “as quickly as attainable,” whilst latest Israeli strikes within the area have appeared to threaten a two-week ceasefire settlement brokered between the USA and Iran.

“In gentle of Lebanon’s repeated requests to open direct negotiations with Israel, I instructed the cupboard yesterday to begin direct negotiations with Lebanon as quickly as attainable,” Netanyahu stated in a assertion on Thursday. “The negotiations will deal with disarming Hezbollah and establishing peaceable relations between Israel and Lebanon.”

An hour earlier than Netanyahu’s announcement, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun stated that “the one resolution to the state of affairs in Lebanon is to attain a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, adopted by direct negotiations between them.”

Israel has been conducting strikes on Lebanon since early March, in an effort to wipe out Hezbollah, an Iran-backed Islamist group with an extended historical past of violent and murderous acts, together with rocket assaults, raids, bombings, and so on.

Provided that the group receives funding from Iran, Israel’s assaults fell underneath the umbrella of “Operation Roaring Lion,” Israel’s title for his or her joint navy effort with the USA, in any other case referred to as Operation Epic Fury.

In 2023, Hezbollah initiated every day cross-border assaults in opposition to Israel in a present of solidarity with the guy terrorist group Hamas. By late 2024, these hostilities escalated right into a large-scale navy battle, which continued till the USA and worldwide companions efficiently brokered a ceasefire settlement in early 2026.

Following the tentative two-week ceasefire settlement reached between the USA and Iran on Tuesday night, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif introduced the deal. Sharif asserted that its phrases prolonged to Lebanon and “all over the place else” and had been efficient instantly.

Nevertheless, the USA and Israel have explicitly acknowledged that the ceasefire doesn't cowl Lebanon or operations in opposition to Hezbollah.

Regardless of ongoing diplomatic efforts, the Israeli Protection Forces (IDF) performed in depth strikes throughout Lebanon on Wednesday. These operations constituted the biggest coordinated strike on Hezbollah terrorist targets for the reason that begin of Operation Roaring Lion, hitting roughly 100 websites together with command facilities and missile infrastructure.

‼️ In 10 minutes, the IDF accomplished the biggest coordinated strike throughout Lebanon for the reason that begin of Operation Roaring Lion.

The strike focused 100+ Hezbollah headquarters, navy arrays, & command-and-control facilities in Beirut, Beqaa and southern Lebanon, together with:

•…

— Israel Protection Forces (@IDF) April 8, 2026

The continued assaults on Hezbollah headquarters throughout Lebanon have prompted ongoing issues over the state of the ceasefire, although Netanyahu has reiterated that Lebanon was not included within the deal.

In the meantime, within the U.S., President Trump has since emphasised that the two-week ceasefire is conditional and warned of large retaliation if Iran doesn't absolutely comply.

“All U.S. Ships, Plane, and Navy Personnel, with extra Ammunition, Weaponry, and anything that's acceptable and crucial for the deadly prosecution and destruction of an already considerably degraded Enemy, will stay in place in, and round, Iran, till such time because the REAL AGREEMENT reached is absolutely complied with,” Trump posted on Fact Social.

On Thursday, President Trump additionally individually warned Iran to not cost tolls or charges to tankers within the Strait of Hormuz, saying they “higher not be and, if they're, they higher cease now.” He additional expressed frustration that Iran is “doing a really poor job” managing visitors within the strait.

“Iran is doing a really poor job, dishonorable some would say, of permitting Oil to undergo the Strait of Hormuz. That's not the settlement we've got!” he added.