By Maya Gebeily and Pesha Magid
BEIRUT/JERUSALEM, April 22 (Reuters) - Lebanese and Israeli envoys will meet for the second time in two weeks in Washington on Thursday, building on nascent contacts between
the states, with Lebanon hoping for the extension of a shaky ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel.
The 10-day, U.S.-mediated ceasefire is set to expire on Sunday. Underlining its fragility, Iran-backed Hezbollah said on Tuesday it had fired rockets at northern Israel in response to Israeli violations, while Israel also accused the group of breaches.
Hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel reignited on March 2, when the group opened fire in support of Tehran in the regional war. Washington's mediation over Lebanon emerged in parallel to Pakistan's bid to end the U.S. war with Iran, which had demanded Lebanon be part of a ceasefire.
Washington has denied any link between the tracks.
More than 2,400 people have been killed in Lebanon since Israel launched an offensive in response to Hezbollah's March 2 attack, according to Lebanese authorities. Israel has seized a belt of territory at the border where its troops remain, saying it aims to create a buffer zone to shield northern Israel from attacks by Hezbollah, which fired hundreds of rockets at Israel during the conflict.
A Lebanese official said Thursday's meeting would be focused on two agenda items: extending the ceasefire and exploring a date for expanded negotiations beyond the ambassadorial level, in which Lebanon would push for an Israeli withdrawal, the return of Lebanese detained in Israel and a delineation of the land border.
Lebanon's position is that a ceasefire extension is a prerequisite for talks to move to the expanded negotiations, the official said.
Hezbollah, which says the Lebanon ceasefire was the fruit of Iranian pressure, has condemned Beirut for seeking talks with Israel, reflecting wider splits with the government that has sought Hezbollah's peaceful disarmament for a year.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, in a speech, said Israel had taken a "historic decision to negotiate directly with Lebanon after more than 40 years" whilst also calling it a "failed state".
"I call on the Government of Lebanon: Let's work together against the terror state that Hezbollah built in your territory. This cooperation is needed by you even more than by us," he said.
The Israeli military said it had killed two militants who had crossed its "Forward Defense Line" in south Lebanon on Tuesday and approached Israeli soldiers, saying they had violated the ceasefire.
DRUZE LEADER URGES CLEAR AGENDA, INCLUDING WITHDRAWAL
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to attend Thursday's meeting, with Lebanon represented by its ambassador to Washington, Nada Moawad, and Israel represented by its ambassador, Yechiel Leiter.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has cited goals including halting Israeli attacks on Lebanon and securing the withdrawal of Israeli troops. In a speech on Friday, he said a ceasefire should be transformed into "permanent agreements that preserve the rights of our people, the unity of our land, and the sovereignty of our nation".
Announcing the ceasefire on April 16, U.S. President Donald Trump said he had instructed Rubio, Vice President JD Vance and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine to work with the two countries to achieve lasting peace.
Lebanon and Israel have remained in an official state of war since the establishment of Israel in 1948.
Lebanon's most senior Shi'ite state official, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, is against face-to-face negotiations with Israel, saying Beirut could have negotiated indirectly.
Lebanon's leading Druze politician, Walid Jumblatt, said on Tuesday that the most Lebanon could offer is an update to a 1949 armistice agreement with Israel.
In comments to reporters after a meeting with Berri, Jumblatt said there should be a clear agenda for talks that includes a withdrawal of Israeli troops still in southern Lebanon.
(Additional reporting by Jana Choukeir in Dubai; Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Toby Chopra)
