By Maya Gebeily, Laila Bassam and Alexander Cornwell
BEIRUT/TEL AVIV, April 16 (Reuters) - Lebanese President Joseph Aoun urged U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday to help secure a ceasefire for his country in the first call ever between the two leaders, as Pakistan said peace in Lebanon was vital to ending the Iran war.
The U.S.-Israeli war with Iran spilt into Lebanon on March 2, when Iran-backed Hezbollah opened fire in support of Tehran, prompting an Israeli offensive in Lebanon just 15 months after the last major conflict.
"Peace in Lebanon is essential for (Iran) peace talks," Tahir Andrabi, spokesperson for Pakistan's Foreign Ministry, said.
An Israeli source told Reuters that a ceasefire in Lebanon could be announced as soon as Thursday night. There was no immediate comment from Lebanese officials.
In a Truth Social post published late on Wednesday in Washington, Trump said he was seeking to create “a little breathing room” between Israel and Lebanon.
Aoun's office said he spoke to Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio separately on Thursday afternoon and thanked them for their efforts to reach a ceasefire in Lebanon. There was no immediate comment from the White House.
Trump had also said the two leaders of Lebanon and Israel had not spoken for some 34 years and "it will happen tomorrow."
But three Lebanese officials told Reuters on Thursday that Aoun would not hold a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the near future.
Two of the Lebanese officials said the Lebanese embassy in Washington had informed the U.S. administration of the position before Aoun's call with Rubio.
LEBANON SEEKS CEASEFIRE BEFORE TALKS
The Lebanese government has been sharply at odds with Hezbollah over its decision to enter the war, having spent the last year seeking to secure the peaceful disarmament of the group founded by Iran's Revolutionary Guards in 1982.
Beirut banned Hezbollah's military activities on March 2.
Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors held rare talks in Washington on Tuesday but contact between Netanyahu and Aoun would be a major milestone in ties between the two countries, which have remained in a state of war since Israel was established in 1948.
Hezbollah opposes contacts between Lebanon and Israel.
Aoun had said early in the war he would be open to direct talks but Lebanon's position is that a ceasefire should precede negotiations.
In a statement on Thursday, he said a ceasefire would be the "natural entry point for direct negotiations" with Israel and that the withdrawal of Israeli troops in southern Lebanon would be "a fundamental step".
FIGHTING CONTINUES IN SOUTH LEBANON
Fighting continued to rage in south Lebanon, notably in the Lebanese border town of Bint Jbeil, a Hezbollah stronghold and strategic prize. A senior Lebanese official said Lebanon believed Israel wanted to secure a victory in Bint Jbeil before diplomatic progress could be made.
An Israeli strike destroyed the last bridge over the Litani River into the south, a senior Lebanese security source said, fully severing almost a tenth of Lebanon from the rest of the country after Israel destroyed other crossings during the war.
Israeli attacks have killed more than 2,100 people in Lebanon since March 2 and forced more than 1.2 million to flee, Lebanese authorities say. Hezbollah attacks have killed two Israeli civilians, while 13 Israeli soldiers have died in Lebanon since March 2, Israel says.
Washington expressed optimism on Wednesday about reaching a deal to end the Iran war. The sides agreed a two-week ceasefire in the Iran war on April 8, following mediation by Pakistan.
Israel and the U.S. have said the campaign against Hezbollah was not part of that ceasefire, though Pakistan's prime minister had said the truce would include Lebanon, as demanded by Iran.
A senior Israeli official and the senior Lebanese official said on Wednesday that Netanyahu's government was under heavy pressure from Washington to reach a ceasefire in Lebanon.
A senior U.S. administration official said on Wednesday the Trump administration had not asked for a ceasefire, but the U.S. president "would welcome the end of hostilities in Lebanon as part of a peace agreement between Israel and Lebanon".
(Reporting by Emily Rose in Jerusalem and Maya Gebeily in Beirut, Jana Choukeir and Tala Ramadan in Dubai, Saad Sayeed in Islamabad; Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Ros Russell, William Maclean, Toby Chopra)
