Lebanon has spent the last 24 hours advocating for a temporary ceasefire to allow for broader talks with Israel, a senior Lebanese official tells Reuters, saying it would be a “separate track but the same model” as a fragile truce brokered by Pakistan between the US and Iran.

The official says no date or location has been set yet, but Lebanon needs the US as a mediator and guarantor of any agreement.

The official spoke to Reuters after Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he had instructed the start of direct negotiations with Lebanon “as soon as possible.”

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