President Trump spoke by phone with his Lebanese counterpart on Thursday, the Lebanese president\u2019s office said in a statement, the latest in a flurry of diplomatic efforts to halt the war between Israel and Hezbollah.<\/p>\n
U.S. officials have been attempting to build on the direct talks<\/a> they hosted this week between Lebanon and Israel. After the talks, Israeli and Lebanese officials said that Israel was considering a short-term cease-fire<\/a> in Lebanon, where the Iranian-backed Hezbollah is based.<\/p>\n Mr. Trump\u2019s call with Lebanon\u2019s president, Joseph Aoun, followed a social media post he made a day earlier saying that Israeli and Lebanese leaders would speak on Thursday. Such a call would be historic given that their countries have no diplomatic relations and have technically been at war since 1948.<\/p>\n In his social media post<\/a>, Mr. Trump wrote: \u201cTrying to get a little breathing room between Israel and Lebanon. It has been a long time since the two leaders have spoken, like 34 years. It will happen tomorrow. Nice!\u201d<\/p>\n That announcement may have been premature.<\/p>\n Earlier, Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Mr. Aoun, who turned down a U.S. request to speak by phone with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, according to a Lebanese official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive diplomacy.<\/p>\n The Lebanese president\u2019s office did not make any mention of the American request, but the Trump administration was pressing for a call between the Israeli and Lebanese leaders, two Lebanese officials said. The officials requested anonymity to talk about the behind-the-scenes efforts.<\/p>\n The Israeli prime minister\u2019s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n The conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah has threatened to upend the cease-fire between the United States and Iran<\/a>, which is set to expire next week. Iran has repeatedly insisted that the truce be extended to Lebanon, a proposal that the United States and Israel have rejected<\/a>.<\/p>\n Earlier on Thursday, Mr. Aoun said in a statement that he viewed a cease-fire with Israel as \u201cthe natural entry point for direct negotiations between the two countries.\u201d<\/p>\n The direct talks between Israel and Lebanon in Washington this week were conducted by the countries\u2019 ambassadors to the United States. After the discussions, the State Department said that steps had been taken toward further \u201cdirect negotiations.\u201d Since then, U.S.-led efforts to broker a cease-fire appear to have picked up urgency.<\/p>\n The Israeli government has not yet approved a cease-fire with Lebanon and, even if it did, it is unclear whether Hezbollah would comply. Israel is negotiating only with the Lebanese government, which does not have control over Hezbollah, a group long considered more powerful than Lebanon\u2019s own military. Hezbollah has long rejected any direct talks with Israel.<\/p>\n Israel launched its military campaign in Lebanon in early March, days after the United States and Israel began their air campaign against Iran. Hezbollah had fired rockets at northern Israel in solidarity with Iran, its patron. Israel\u2019s offensive has expanded into a ground invasion<\/a> of the country\u2019s south, an area that Israeli officials have signaled plans to occupy<\/a>.<\/p>\n More than 2,100 people have been killed in Lebanon amid the latest conflict, according to the Lebanese authorities, with more than a million displaced \u2014 roughly a fifth of the population. At least 13 Israeli soldiers have also been killed, along with two civilians, according to the Israeli authorities.<\/p>\n