Lebanon seeks temporary ceasefire to allow broader talks with Israel, official says

Apr 9, 2026

Members of the military at the site of an Israeli strike carried out on Wednesday, in Ain Al Mraiseh in Beirut, Lebanon, April 9, 2026. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir — Mohamed Azakir

BEIRUT, April 9 (Reuters) - Lebanon has spent the last 24 hours advocating for a temporary ceasefire to allow for broader talks with Israel, a senior Lebanese official told Reuters, saying it would be a "separate track but the same model" as a fragile truce brokered by Pakistan between the U.S. and Iran.

The official said no date or location had been set yet but Lebanon needed the U.S. as a mediator and guarantor of any agreement.

The official spoke to Reuters after Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he had instructed the start of direct negotiations with Lebanon "as soon as possible."

(Reporting by Maya Gebeily, Editing by William Maclean)

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