Diplomacy & Geopolitics
Israel wants more serious Lebanon talks, spokesman says
A spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel wants new and more ambitious US-brokered talks with Lebanon after deadly Israeli strikes targeting Hezbollah.
Doron Spielman told AFP on Saturday that the strikes “should jumpstart the talks and make them much more serious, not do the opposite”. He said he hoped they would move the talks forward, adding that Israel viewed Hezbollah as the enemy.
Israel said it carried out the strikes after Hezbollah attacked Israeli forces inside what Israel calls a security zone in southern Lebanon. Netanyahu's office said three Israeli soldiers were seriously injured.
Israel said it then attacked a headquarters of Hezbollah's elite Radwan force and killed commander Ali Samir Al-Haj Hassan. It acknowledged that Hassan's family members were present and said they were not the target.
Lebanese authorities said seven people were killed, including several children, in the Ansar strike, and four more people were killed in a separate strike.
Spielman said Israel was still upholding a US-brokered agreement that calls for Lebanon's security forces to take gradual control and remove Hezbollah. Israel and Lebanon are due to hold another US-sponsored round of negotiations in Rome in early September.
The framework under discussion includes Hezbollah's disarmament, a gradual Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon and deployment of the Lebanese army in areas where Israel's military has pulled out.
Update
Lebanese authorities said seven people were killed, including several children, in the Ansar strike, and four more were killed in a separate strike.
Source note: AFP news report published on 15 August 2026 at 16:32:28 UTC.
Update
Israel said the strikes followed a Hezbollah attack inside what Israel calls a security zone in southern Lebanon.
Netanyahu's office said three Israeli soldiers were seriously injured.
Israel said it struck a headquarters of Hezbollah's Radwan force and killed commander Ali Samir Al-Haj Hassan.
Israel acknowledged Hassan's family members were present and said they were not the target.
Lebanese authorities said nine people were killed, including several children, in one strike and four more people in a separate strike.
Source note: AFP news report published on 15 August 2026 at 16:08:16 UTC.
Update
Netanyahu spokesman Doron Spielman made the comments to AFP.
Spielman said Israeli strikes against Hezbollah should make talks with Lebanon more serious.
Spielman said Israel and Lebanon had a common enemy in Hezbollah.
Source note: AFP news report published on 15 August 2026 at 15:43:27 UTC.
Uncertainty notes
The circumstances of Hezbollah's alleged attack inside the security zone and the Israeli strikes are attributed to the parties and authorities cited.
The supplied material does not independently verify Israel's account that Ali Samir Al-Haj Hassan was the target and that his family members were not targeted.
Source
AFP news report published on .