Mike Baker

Regardless, Israeli air operations continued into Thursday, albeit at a slightly reduced pace.

The IDF says it struck additional weapons depots, rocket launchers, and Hezbollah headquarters across southern Lebanon.

At the same time, Israeli officials claim Hezbollah fighters have been operating deeper inside Beirut and beyond their traditional strongholds.

But even as those operations continue, Netanyahu is signaling a willingness to open a diplomatic channel with Lebanon.

He says Israel is now prepared to begin direct talks with the Lebanese government, following what he described as Lebanon's repeated requests.

The focus would be on disarming Hezbollah and potentially formalizing relationships between the two countries.

And Netanyahu made that explicit, posting on X, "...in light of Lebanon's repeated requests, I instructed the cabinet to initiate direct talks with Lebanon as soon as possible."

Now, of course, that would be a significant shift.

The last serious attempt at normalization came back in 1983 through U.S.-mediated talks, an agreement that ultimately collapsed.

A U.S.

official confirms the State Department is set to host talks between Israel and Lebanon next week in Washington, aimed at ending the current hostilities with Hezbollah.

The discussions are expected to be led on the U.S.

side by Ambassador to Lebanon Michael Issa, and on the Israeli side by Israel's Ambassador to the U.S.

Now, one point to note here, and it simply highlights the complexity of the problem.

The Lebanese government doesn't speak for Hezbollah, and over the past few decades, the Lebanese government has not had the ability to either control or seriously influence Hezbollah.

Hezbollah, as it always has, answers to Iran.

And once again, Hezbollah and Iran have dragged Lebanon into a conflict that neither the people nor the Lebanese government wanted.

All of that said, Netanyahu has also made it clear that operations against Hezbollah will continue regardless of diplomatic developments.

All right, coming up next, hackers steal sensitive defense data from a Chinese supercomputer, and the government of Spain is set to reopen its embassy in Tehran as tensions flare between President Trump and NATO partners.

I'll be right back.