WASHINGTON, May 15 - The U.S. State Department said on Friday that Israel and Lebanon have agreed to lengthen the ceasefire that went into effect on April 16 by an additional 45 days. The announcement said the extension is intended "to enable further progress," according to State Department spokesman Tommy Piggott.
Officials described the latest round of talks, held in Washington on Thursday and Friday, as "highly productive." The two sides are scheduled to reconvene negotiations on June 2 and June 3, the State Department added.
This week’s session in the U.S. capital was the third formal meeting between the parties since a sharp escalation in early March. According to the account provided by the State Department, the heightened hostilities began after Hezbollah fired missiles at Israel on March 2, which was three days into what the statement describes as the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.
Following that exchange, Israel intensified air strikes on Lebanon and later expanded its ground operations into southern Lebanon. The State Department noted that, since the ceasefire declared on April 16, fighting has been mostly contained to the southern region of Lebanon.
The extension announced on Friday keeps the April 16 cessation of hostilities in place for another 45 days - a window the State Department framed as necessary to allow talks to progress. The timing for follow-up negotiations in early June provides the parties an opportunity to build on the outcomes of the Washington meetings.
Reporting note: The State Department provided the timeline and the direct quote attributing the 45-day extension to the goal of enabling further progress. The public account lists the meetings in Washington, the schedule for renewed negotiations, and the history of recent exchanges between the parties as described above.