The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has welcomed the announcement of a 45-day extension of a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, followed by talks between the two countries facilitated by the United States. In a statement, Mr Guterres reaffirmed the support of the United Nations to all efforts to end hostilities and alleviate the suffering of communities on both sides of the Blue Line.

The UN Secretary-General urged all actors to fully respect the cessation of hostilities, cease any further attacks and comply with their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law, at all times. Earlier, Israel and Lebanon agreed to a 45-day extension of their ceasefire after another round of talks in Washington. US State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott made the announcement yesterday, saying that the April 16 cessation of hostilities will be extended by 45 days to enable further progress after America hosted two days of highly productive talks between Israel and Lebanon, which concluded on Friday.

In a social media post, Mr Pigott said the US State Department will reconvene the political track of negotiations on the 2nd and 3rd of June. In addition, a security track will be launched at the Pentagon on the 29th of this month with military delegations from both countries. Meanwhile, the Israeli Air Force claimed that it successfully intercepted two hostile aircraft in the area where Israeli forces are operating in southern Lebanon. The Israeli Air Force also struck 100 targets related to Hezbollah in southern Lebanon this weekend. Additionally, it struck the military infrastructure of Hezbollah in the Tyre area in southern Lebanon.