Lebanese officials have reportedly proposed direct peace talks with Israel as a way to end the ongoing Israeli invasion, and sought help from the US in brokering such discussions, but were apparently rebuffed, with US envoy Tom Barrack reportedly saying there was “nothing to discuss.”
Israel has been attacking Lebanon on a virtually daily basis since 2024, but escalated it officially to a new war just last week. Since then, at least 486 Lebanese people have been killed, and 1,313 wounded in the strikes, with at least 700,000 displaced from their homes.
Barrack, the US Ambassador to Turkey as well as a special envoy to Syria, has been threatening an Israeli invasion for months, though in December he also urged Israel to enter into talks with Lebanon, saying at the time he doesn’t believe Israel can destroy Hezbollah militarily.
US Ambassador to Turkey Thomas Barrack | Image from Reuters
The Tom Barrack of December seems not to be the same one Lebanon is facing in March, who said there was “no point” in holding direct talks like the ones Lebanon proposed, which were meant to be held in Cyprus.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar indicated that keeping Israeli ground troops in Lebanon is “necessary” for Israeli security, and further condemned UN peacekeepers operating in Lebanon as an “obstacle” to the operations of the Israeli military.
The fighting between Israel and Hezbollah is ongoing, with Hezbollah reportedly firing a missile at the Israeli city of Ramle, wounding at least four people. The IDF, by contrast, fired tank shells at a home in the Lebanese village of Qlayaa, killing a Maronite Catholic priest named Pierre el-Raï.
Qlayaa is a Christian majority village, and the IDF reportedly claimed there were “fighters” inside, though the village mayor said that was a lie, and the only people inside were the priest and village locals who had come to help the wounded.
