Lebanese and Israeli representatives are scheduled to meet in Washington on Tuesday for rare, US-mediated talks on ending the war in Lebanon.
The meeting mediated by Secretary of State Marco Rubio will include the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to Washington and the US ambassador to Beirut.
It is set to take place at 3pm GMT and comes as Israeli troops closed in on a strategic town in southern Lebanon .
"The Israeli and Lebanese governments are engaging in open, direct, high-level diplomatic talks - the first such talks since 1993 - brokered by the United States," a State Department official said on condition of anonymity.
"This conversation will scope the ongoing dialogue about how to ensure the long-term security of Israel's northern border and to support the government of Lebanon's determination to reclaim full sovereignty over its territory," the official added.
But the two sides have opposing terms, with Lebanon insisting on a truce before talks happen, while Israel says it will not halt its attacks on the country, vowing to continue its war with Hezbollah.
Israeli government spokeswoman Shosh Bedrosian told journalists on Monday that the dialogue between Lebanon and Israel is aimed at disarming Hezbollah and "establishing peaceful relations between our two countries", with Beirut not recognising Israel.
"We will not discuss a ceasefire with Hezbollah, which continues to carry out indiscriminate attacks against Israel and our civilians," Bedrosian said.
The Lebanese government says the aim of the talks is to end the violence in Lebanon, push for an Israeli withdrawal , and allow displaced residents to return to their homes in the war-battered south, where Israeli forces have advanced several kilometres.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Monday he hoped the Washington talks will yield "an agreement... on a ceasefire in Lebanon, with the aim of starting direct negotiations between Lebanon and Israel".
Lebanese Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri told local media on Tuesday that the scheduled meeting in Washington does not indicate any recognition of Israel, but is merely communication aimed at putting an end to the war, adding that both countries have held talks before.
He reiterated that the Lebanese ambassador Nada Mouawad will call for a ceasefire or a truce "so we can explore how to negotiate with Israel". He also said there were no guarantees that Beirut would be spared from further Israeli attacks.
Naim Qassem, the leader of Hezbollah, which is battling Israel, called on Monday for the talks to be scrapped before they even began, describing them as "futile".
Wafiq Safa, a high-ranking member of Hezbollah's political council, told The Associated Press that the group was "not bound by what they agree to".
"As for the outcomes of this negotiation between Lebanon and the Israeli enemy, we are not interested in or concerned with them at all," Safa told AP .
Hezbollah has repeatedly criticised the Lebanese government for what it calls "concessions" to the US and Israel, including efforts to disarm the group and ban its armed wing. The government recently instructed security forces to enforce a state monopoly on all weapons in the capital. The fight for Bint Jbeil Lebanon was pulled into the region-wide Iran war on 2 March after Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel, which had already been violating a 2024 ceasefire deal with near-daily attacks on Lebanon.
Since then, Israeli strikes - including a heavy attack on Beirut on 8 April described as the worst in decades - have killed more than 2,000 people, wounded thousands, and displaced more than one million people from southern Lebanon, Beirut’s southern suburbs and parts of the east.
Airstrikes and shelling continued Monday night into Tuesday across the south. One strike near the Tebnine Hospital killed four people and wounded seven others, while another attack on a house in Adloun also killed four.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah continues to confront the Israeli invasion through ambushes and strikes, as well as firing rockets at northern Israeli towns and settlements.
The Israeli military said Tuesday that another soldier had been killed during combat in southern Lebanon.
The Israeli military announced on Monday that it had surrounded Bint Jbeil amid intense fighting with Hezbollah, saying it will have full operational control over the strategic town "within days."
Capturing the town would mark a significant advance in the invasion, which has seen the Israeli military take control of nearly all border towns and villages, with Israeli troops continuing to demolish homes and civilian infrastructure .
Israeli officials have repeatedly said they want to establish a "security zone" in south Lebanon to prevent Hezbollah attacks, but many Lebanese see this as a pretext for a new occupation.