US envoy Tom Barrack urges direct Lebanon-Israel negotiations

A senior US official urged Lebanon to seek direct talks with Israel on Saturday, as worries mounted over intensified Israeli attacks on Hezbollah strongholds nearly a year into a truce agreement.

Despite a November 2024 ceasefire with Lebanon's Hezbollah movement, Israel continues to occupy in five areas in southern Lebanon and has kept up near-daily air strikes, killing over 100 people since the agreement.

On Friday, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun accused Israel of responding to its offer to negotiate by intensifying its air strikes.

Lebanese authorities have held indirect talks with Israel, but Barrack said the key to easing tensions could be direct negotiations.

"The conversation needs to be with Israel. It just needs to be with Israel. Israel is ready," US envoy Tom Barrack told reporters on the sidelines of the IISS Manama Dialogue in Bahrain.

"March to that door, to Israel, and have a conversation, it can't hurt," he added.

But he told AFP that Lebanese leaders were "rightly nervous" about such talks.

Hezbollah, which opposes Israel, has been heavily weakened by the war but remains financially resilient and armed.

"They're rightly hesitant because it's a dangerous environment," he told AFP.

But "if you want to do that, we'll help. We'll put pressure on Israel to be reasonable", he said.

The United States has been pushing for Lebanon to follow in the footsteps of neighbouring Syria, which is seeking a security agreement with Israel.

"The path is very clear that it needs to be to Jerusalem or Tel Aviv for a conversation along with Syria. Syria is showing the way," Barrack said during a panel in Manama.