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"Lebanese Information Minister Paul Morcos said on Thursday that Prime Minister Nawaf Salam was working through Lebanon's ambassador in Washington to press the US to push Israel to respect the ceasefire. "Prime Minister Nawaf Salam also addressed the issue of negotiations. He explained that Lebanon has not yet entered into negotiations and that we are still in the preparatory meeting stage in Washington," Morcos said. "Our priority remains securing a ceasefire so that we can begin negotiations aimed at addressing the root causes of the conflict between Lebanon and Israel," he added. Morcos said substantive negotiations had not yet started, adding that the immediate priority was to end hostilities. He also responded to questions about a US statement claiming Lebanon had agreed to treat Hezbollah as a common enemy and allow Israel to act freely inside Lebanon. "We adhere to the statement made by the Lebanese Ambassador in Washington at the end of the first meeting. This is precisely what I was referring to: the statement by the US State Department summarising the positions attributed to the parties involved in these meetings," he said. On April 15, US President Donald Trump announced a ten-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, later extending it on April 23 by an additional three weeks. The extension followed rare direct negotiations between Lebanese and Israeli officials in Washington DC, marking the first such talks between the two sides in decades. On April 17, the United States Department of State said Lebanon and Israel had reached an understanding under which both countries would work to create conditions conducive to lasting peace, fully recognise each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and establish effective security along their shared border, while preserving Israel’s inherent right to self-defence."
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