Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun will not speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the near future, a senior Lebanese official told Middle East Eye, after reports of a planned phone call between the two leaders.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Beirut had informed Washington of Aoun’s position ahead of a call between the president and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday.
The development comes two days after the US hosted the ambassadors of Israel and Lebanon in Washington, in the first such talks between the two countries since 1993.
“Lebanon has already taken a step with the meeting in Washington. It will not be drawn into another step that would hand Netanyahu a moral victory he has been unable to achieve on the ground in Lebanon,” the official said.
The official added that a phone call between Aoun and Netanyahu, which would be the first between leaders of Israel and Lebanon, would have “major internal implications” and could trigger “an explosion in the country”.
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Israel’s cabinet met on Wednesday night to discuss a possible ceasefire in Lebanon, while US President Donald Trump announced that the two leaders would speak.
Aoun later stressed that any ceasefire must serve as a “natural gateway” to direct negotiations with Israel.
Israeli newspaper Haaretz said on Thursday that senior Israeli military commanders have reportedly received instructions to prepare forces currently deployed in southern Lebanon for a ceasefire, which is expected to begin between 7pm and midnight.
The last southern bridge
Israel has been pummelling Lebanon since US-Israeli strikes on Iran killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, prompting a cross-border rocket attack by Hezbollah in retaliation on 2 March.
On Thursday morning, as Israeli media publicised the call between Aoun and Netanyahu, the Israeli military bombed the Qasmiyeh bridge, severing the last link between southern Lebanon and the rest of the country.
“Enemy aircraft carried out two consecutive strikes on the Qasmiyeh bridge, the last bridge between the Sour and Saida regions, completely destroying it,” Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported.
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Last month, the Israeli military said it would target bridges and crossings over the Litani River, effectively isolating large parts of southern Lebanon.
In recent weeks, it has carried out that campaign, destroying or damaging at least nine bridges over the river, which bisects southern Lebanon from east to west.
Israel had already bombed the Qasmiyeh bridge in late March, causing heavy damage, but the Lebanese army partially reopened it to traffic last week.
Lebanese soldiers, who maintain positions near the bridge, had closed the roads leading to it ahead of the latest strike, according to Lebanese newspaper L’Orient Today.
A Lebanese security official told Reuters that the strike “shattered” the crossing and left no possibility of repair.
At least 11 people, including women and children, were killed and several others wounded in Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon on Thursday. Another person was killed in a strike targeting a car on a road linking Beirut to the Syrian capital, Damascus.
Israeli attacks have killed more than 2,100 people in Lebanon since 2 March, according to government figures.
On Wednesday, the Israeli military killed four Lebanese rescue workers and wounded six others in three back-to-back, targeted strikes, Lebanese paramedic groups said.
The successive strikes on the southern village of Mayfadoun targeted three waves of medics: the first responding to a call for help from wounded civilians, a second attempting to assist the wounded responders, and a third rushing to support both teams after they came under attack.
The Israeli army has killed 91 healthcare workers in Lebanon in the past six weeks, the ministry said.
Israel has not targeted the Lebanese capital since the 8 April massacre it carried out across the country, which killed more than 350 people in some 100 strikes over 10 minutes. It has, however, continued deadly strikes in southern Lebanon as troops press ahead with a ground invasion.