Two informed sources who spoke to the American website Axios revealed that Lebanon and the United States asked Israel for a truce in its attacks on Hezbollah, before the start of direct negotiations between Israel and Lebanon next Tuesday. The ambassadors of Israel and Lebanon are scheduled to meet in Washington, under the auspices of the US State Department, on Tuesday, in a first round of direct talks, while more detailed negotiations will take place later. Yesterday, Friday, the two ambassadors held a preliminary phone call, in which an advisor to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio participated. After the call, the Lebanese side announced that the two sides agreed to meet on Tuesday “to discuss the declaration of a ceasefire.” Later, the Israeli ambassador to the United States, Yehiel Leiter, stated that Israel agreed “to strengthen a peace agreement with Lebanon, but did not agree to discuss a ceasefire with Hezbollah.” Two sources told Axios that the Lebanese government asked Israel, through American mediators, to agree to a “gesture” before Tuesday’s meeting, and to stop its air strikes on the country, and the Lebanese proposed to the Israelis to return to the terms of the ceasefire agreement signed in November 2024. The two sources said that the United States supports the Lebanese request and urges Israel to accept it, while it is being reviewed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has not yet made a decision, according to Axios. But agreeing to a ceasefire will be politically problematic for Netanyahu, as his government believes that conducting negotiations with Lebanon must be “under intense pressure.” However, a second Israeli source said that Netanyahu might agree to a “short tactical truce for air strikes.”