US envoys in Israel seek Lebanon ceasefire as Hamas rejects truce deal

First responders carry the shrouded body of a woman killed when a rocket fired from Lebanon hit an area near Kiryat Ata in northern Israel's Haifa district.

Senior US officials met with their Israeli counterparts to discuss a possible deal to end the conflict in Lebanon as Israeli airstrikes pounded two towns in the country's historic Baalbek region. Meanwhile, Hamas rejected a truce deal with Israel, insisting on a lasting solution including Israeli withdrawal, prisoner exchange, and humanitarian aid.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met visiting US officials Thursday to discuss a possible deal to end Israel's war with Hezbollah in Lebanon, as the death toll mounted on both sides of the border.

Netanyahu told Washington envoys Amos Hochstein and Brett McGurk that any Lebanon deal must guarantee Israel's longer term scrutiny.

While their talks took place, Israeli medics and a local leader reported seven Israelis killed by cross-border fire from Lebanon -- one of the highest one-day tolls in Israel in more than a year of cross-border exchanges that escalated to full-scale war last month.

Israeli strikes hit southern and eastern Lebanon as well as Gaza, where Israel's actions in the territory's north have drawn increasing scrutiny more than a year into its war against Hamas Palestinian militants.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant also met the Americans for a separate discussion.

(AFP)


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