: Sunday, May 17, 2026 11:54 AM
United Nations. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has welcomed the decision to extend the ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel by 45 days. The UN press office said Guterres reiterated his support for efforts to maintain peace between the two countries. According to Xinhua News Agency, the press office said in a note sent to reporters that the United Nations stands with all efforts aimed at stopping violence and reducing the suffering of people living on both sides of the Blue Line. The “Blue Line” referred to here is the border line drawn by the United Nations between Lebanon and Israel in 2000. The United Nations has appealed to all parties to fully comply with the ceasefire, refrain from further attacks and respect international law, especially humanitarian law.
The United Nations also said that it will continue to support ongoing diplomatic efforts to fully implement Security Council Resolution 1701. This proposal was brought after the 2006 Lebanon War, in which there was a conflict between Hezbollah and Israel.
Meanwhile, Israel and Lebanon have agreed to extend the ceasefire that came into effect last month by 45 days. US State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said that the ceasefire in effect from April 16 is being extended so that further progress can be made in the talks.
He said that political level talks between the two countries will resume at the US State Department on June 2 and 3. At the same time, a separate meeting of military officers on security related issues will be held in the Pentagon on May 29. The third round of direct talks took place between Israel and Lebanon on Thursday and Friday. The US side described these talks as “very positive and useful”.
However, despite the ceasefire, clashes between Israel and Hezbollah continue in southern Lebanon. At least nine people were killed and several others injured in Israeli attacks on Friday. Hezbollah says it targeted Israeli drones, soldiers, military bulldozers and Merkava tanks in different areas of southern Lebanon.
According to Lebanon’s Public Health Emergency Operations Centre, Israeli attacks between March 2 and May 15 have killed 2,951 people and injured 8,988. During the talks, Israel was represented by its Ambassador to Washington Yechiel Leiter and senior security officials, while the Lebanese delegation included its Ambassador to Washington Nada Hamadeh Mouawad and Lebanon’s former ambassador to the US Simon Karam.
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