Netanyahu: Israel wants to start peace talks with Lebanon 'as soon as possible'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that he has given an instruction ⁠for Israel to ⁠begin peace talks with Lebanon that would also include the disarming of Hezbollah.

"In light of Lebanon's repeated requests ⁠to open direct negotiations with Israel, I instructed the cabinet yesterday to start direct negotiations with Lebanon as soon as possible," Netanyahu said in a statement. "The negotiations will focus on disarming Hezbollah and establishing peaceful relations between Israel and Lebanon."

There was no immediate response from the Lebanese ⁠government to ⁠Netanyahu's remarks.

An hour before Netanyahu's statement, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said that "the only solution to the situation in Lebanon is to achieve a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, followed by direct negotiations between them."

He said he was working on ⁠a diplomatic track on this matter that was starting to be seen "positively" by international actors.

Israel launched a renewed offensive against Hezbollah after the Iran-backed movement began firing at Israel on March 2. Israeli strikes have killed around ⁠1,700 ‌people ‌and uprooted more than a million ⁠people, according to ‌Lebanese authorities.

At least 400 Hezbollah fighters have been killed, according to sources ⁠familiar with the group, ⁠which has fired hundreds of rockets and ⁠drones at Israel.