Lebanon and Israel officials to meet in US on Tuesday

Israel and Lebanon's ambassadors to the US have agreed in a first phone call to meet in Washington on Tuesday to seek an announcement on a ceasefire and a date to begin direct negotiations.

The Lebanese presidency made the announcement. Earlier, a senior presidency official told the BBC negotiations could only happen with a ceasefire in place. There was no immediate comment from Israel.

It comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu authorised direct talks following what he said were "repeated requests from the Lebanese government".

Israeli air strikes on Lebanon are continuing, as the Lebanese health ministry said the death toll from Wednesday's massive bombardment had risen to 357, with 1,223 people injured.

"The toll is still not final, due to the ongoing removal of rubble and the presence of a large amount of human remains" requiring DNA testing, the ministry said.

The Israeli military said the wave of attacks across the country had killed "at least 180 Hezbollah terrorists" from the Lebanese armed group.

On Friday at 21:00 Beirut time (19:00 BST), the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to Washington held a first call with the US ambassador to Beirut. During the call they agreed to the meeting at the US State Department, the Lebanese president's office said.

Delegations will meet on Tuesday to discuss ceasefire conditions. If they can agree on conditions for a ceasefire then negotiations will go ahead at a later date and time, a senior official from the president's office said.

Direct talks between Lebanon and Israel are highly unusual, with the two countries historically communicating through intermediaries. Efforts to establish negotiations have been ongoing since a ceasefire agreement in November 2024, with US envoys previously mediating indirect talks between the two sides.

There is fierce dispute over whether Lebanon was included in the US-Iran ceasefire declared by US President Donald Trump on Tuesday.

Pakistan, which mediated the truce, and Iran say it was, while the US and Israel say it was not. Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh told the BBC on Thursday that Israeli strikes on Lebanon constituted a "grave violation" of the ceasefire.

But speaking in Budapest on Wednesday, US Vice-President JD Vance said "I ⁠think the Iranians thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon, and it just didn't."

In a statement addressed to residents of northern Israel on Thursday night, Benjamin Netanyahu said there was "no ceasefire in Lebanon".

On Friday, Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun said 13 state security personnel had been killed by strikes on the southern city of Nabatieh and condemned the continued attacks.

Lebanese authorities said victims of the latest Israeli attacks also included seven members of the same family in the town of Abbassieh and 11 people in Zrarieh. A medical centre in Burj Qalaway was also hit, killing two people, while a drone strike targeted an ambulance in Toul, with no casualties reported.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it struck about 10 rocket launchers on Thursday night which it said had fired on northern Israel. It said it was continuing to locate and destroy more.

Hezbollah has also fired more rockets at several places in Israel and also fired rockets overnight, triggering sirens across the country. One was fired at the southern coastal city of Ashdod - the furthest Hezbollah has targeted in the current fighting - but was intercepted, the IDF said.

The group said it fired rockets at Kiryat Shmona, near the Israel-Lebanon border, at 10:00 (06:00 BST) on Friday, and Misgav Am in the Upper Galilee region of northern Israel. There are no reports of casualties.

It said it was acting in response to what it described as Israel's "violation" of the US-Iran ceasefire agreement.

In Beirut, rescue teams are continuing to recover bodies after the heaviest Israeli air strikes since the start of the latest fighting.

Mohammad Hamoud's family owns a pharmacy in Ain el Mreisseh district of Beirut. He was at work in another part of town - also under Israeli bombardment - when he heard the pharmacy building had been hit.

"You cannot manage what happened, the number of bombs," Mohammad told the BBC. "In a very, very short period, complete damage everywhere. It was astonishing."

Meanwhile, UN aid agencies are warning of a growing humanitarian crisis in Lebanon, with more than a million people displaced, and rising food costs.

The World Food Programme (WFP) said that disrupted incomes and rising prices were causing a food security crisis.

WFP was supporting thousands of families before the latest conflict, and now wants to increase that support. But it says delivering supplies, particularly to southern Lebanon, is increasingly complex, with convoys taking 15 hours to go even short distances.