By Maya Gebeily and Emily Rose
BEIRUT/JERUSALEM, April 16 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said Lebanese and Israeli leaders will speak for the first time in decades on Thursday, while Pakistan said peace in Lebanon was essential for talks it is mediating between Washington and Tehran on ending the Iran war.
The Lebanon conflict spiralled out of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran 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.
The Israeli security cabinet convened late on Wednesday to discuss a possible ceasefire in Lebanon.
"Peace in Lebanon is essential for (Iran) peace talks," Tahir Andrabi, spokesperson for Pakistan's Foreign Ministry, said.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he was "trying 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!" Trump wrote in the post published before midnight on Wednesday, Washington time.
Gila Gamliel, a member of Israel's security cabinet, told Israel's Army Radio that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would "speak for the first time with the president of Lebanon after so many years of no contact between the two countries".
A senior Lebanese official told Reuters Lebanon had no information about a call between Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Netanyahu.
Contact between Netanyahu and Aoun would be a milestone in ties between Lebanon and Israel - countries which have remained in a state of war since Israel was established in 1948. Hezbollah opposes contacts between Lebanon and Israel.
In a statement after meeting the UK Minister for the Middle East, Hamish Falconer, Aoun said that the ceasefire demanded by Lebanon would be the "natural entry point for direct negotiations" with Israel, without referring to any plans to speak to Netanyahu.
Aoun, who commanded Lebanon's U.S.-backed military before becoming president last year, said Israel's withdrawal would be a "fundamental step to consolidate the ceasefire" so that Lebanese troops could deploy to the south.
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.
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 which Netanyahu said on Wednesday the Israeli military was about to "overcome". A senior Lebanese official said that Lebanon’s assessment was that 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.
Hezbollah announced new rocket attacks at Israel. In Israel, sirens rang out warning of incoming rockets, sending residents of several northern Israeli towns running to bomb shelters. There were no immediate reports of injuries.
Israeli attacks have killed more than 2,100 people in Lebanon since March 2 and forced more than 1.2 million from their homes, Lebanese authorities say. Hezbollah attacks have killed two Israeli civilians, while 13 Israeli soldiers have died in Lebanon since March 2, Israel says.
ISRAEL VOWS 'NO-GO' ZONE FOR HEZBOLLAH
The Israeli military's chief of staff said on Wednesday the area south of the Litani would be a "no-go zone for Hezbollah operatives", reflecting Israel's declared aim to keep control of a swathe of southern Lebanon south of the river that meets the Mediterranean about 30 km (20 miles) north of Israel's border.
Netanyahu's office and Aoun's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment about any talks.
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".
Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors held rare talks in Washington on Tuesday. Hezbollah has condemned Tuesday's meeting, saying it would deepen the rift among Lebanese.
Iran has said Lebanon must be included in any agreement to end the wider Middle East war, while Washington has pushed back, saying there is no link between the two sets of talks.
(Reporting by Emily Rose in Jerusalem and Maya Gebeily in Beirut, Jana Choukeir in Dubai, Saad Sayeed in Islamabad; Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Lincoln Feast, Ros Russell, William Maclean)
