0:01 As peace talks between the US and
0:04 Iranian officials are due to begin in
0:06 Pakistan this weekend. We've been
0:07 hearing again from President Trump
0:10 accusing Iran of doing a very poor job
0:12 and not allowing oil to pass through the
0:14 Strait of Hormuz. He claims it's a
0:16 direct breach of the fragile ceasefire
0:19 agreement brokered by the two sides. The
0:21 disputed status of Lebanon, meanwhile,
0:23 in the ceasefire is creating a lot of
0:25 tension. There's been fresh fighting
0:27 overnight between Israel and Hezbollah.
0:29 Uh we have some latest pictures for you
0:31 from Beirut where a massive cleanup and
0:34 recovery effort is underway. If you look
0:36 at these pictures, you can see the
0:39 extent of the damage from those Israeli
0:42 strikes. And it's important to note it
0:44 comes after President Trump was quoted
0:47 as saying Israel would be more low-key
0:50 in Lebanon. Comments widely seen as him
0:52 asking Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin
0:54 Netanyahu to be more restrained. The US
0:56 State Department said Israel and Lebanon
0:58 would hold talks in Washington next
1:01 week. Uh what we're hearing from the
1:03 Lebanese health ministry, these figures
1:05 came through yesterday. More than 300
1:07 people killed in Israeli strikes on
1:10 Wednesday and over a thousand injured.
1:13 Israel saying it is targeting Hezbollah
1:15 military sites. But this was densely
1:19 populated areas of the Lebanese capital.
1:21 Well, let's update you on the talks that
1:22 are used to take place. We can take you
1:24 to Carrie Davies who joins us now from
1:26 Islamabad. Carrie, do we know anything
1:28 more today about what these talks will
1:30 look like, what kind of shape they'll
1:35 >> Well, Lucy, at the moment, we've had no
1:38 formal schedule announced for these
1:39 talks. And we've also had no absolute
1:42 certainty of when everyone will arrive.
1:44 Yesterday we'd heard from the Iranian uh
1:46 foreign uh the Iranian ambassador here
1:48 in Pakistan who'd put a post on social
1:50 media saying that the delegation would
1:52 be arriving yesterday evening that was
1:54 then deleted within the course of an
1:56 hour. And at the moment we have had no
1:58 formal recognition that uh or formal
2:00 announcement that uh a delegation from
2:03 Iran has arrived here in Pakistan. We've
2:05 had no images uh of arrivals on
2:08 Pakistani TV. We've had no messages from
2:09 government officials or government
2:11 ministers uh welcoming any of the
2:13 highprofile guests of the country. So at
2:15 the moment there's no suggestion uh or
2:17 no confirmation that they are already
2:20 here in Islamabad. Uh as when it comes
2:22 to the American delegation, we did of
2:24 course get confirmation earlier this
2:25 week from the White House that Vice
2:27 President JD Vance would be the one
2:30 leading the talks from their side also
2:31 accompanied by special envoy Steve
2:35 Wickoff and Jared Kushner as well. And
2:37 the Iranian uh deputy foreign minister
2:40 speaking to BBC yesterday said that if
2:42 um it was JD Vance that was leading from
2:43 the American side, then they would be
2:45 putting forward their parliamentary
2:47 speaker to lead the talks on the Iranian
2:49 side at the moment. Very much uh posing
2:51 that as a as a sort of equivalent as a
2:54 tip for tat. If they provide one, we
2:56 will provide uh at this level as well.
2:59 Um, at the moment we have had uh no
3:01 confirmation either that any of the
3:03 senior representatives from America have
3:06 arrived here yet. Uh, but we did of
3:07 course hear from the White House saying
3:08 that they thought the talks were
3:11 happening on Saturday. Uh, and so the
3:13 expectation is that uh there is still
3:15 plenty of time for that delegation to
3:18 arrive here in Islamabad. Meanwhile, uh,
3:19 I have been around the city this morning
3:21 seeing some of the preparations that are
3:23 already underway. A large amount of
3:24 what's known as the red zone which is
3:26 where a lot of government buildings here
3:28 in Pakistan are based as well as many of
3:30 the foreign embassies. Large amounts of
3:32 that area have been entirely closed off.
3:34 We have uh police, army and also the
3:36 paramilitary the rangers here in
3:38 Pakistan that are providing a lot of
3:41 that security uh around this district
3:43 around this area. International media
3:46 has started to arrive here in Islamabad
3:48 as well to cover those talks. So at the
3:50 moment, Islamabad is waiting for more
3:52 information and for the arrivals of
3:56 those high-profile guests.
3:57 >> Carrie, back to you when we do know
3:59 more. Thank you so much for that. Well,
4:02 it feels very fragile this ceasefire in
4:04 the Gulf today. Part of the tension
4:06 around it all is of course what is going
4:09 on in Lebanon at the moment. Let's take
4:10 you to our Middle East correspondent
4:13 Lena Sinjab who is in Beirut. Lena, what
4:19 Well, it is really tense here, Lucy. I
4:21 mean, that this is a country that
4:24 doesn't feel it is part of a ceasefire
4:27 or that any piece is coming soon. There
4:29 were air strikes throughout the night in
4:31 the south of Lebanon. Uh, you know, from
4:33 both sides. I mean although relatively
4:36 you can't compare the rockets fired from
4:38 Hezbollah into Israel with the damage
4:40 that the Israeli strikes are causing in
4:42 the south of Lebanon or what it had
4:45 caused uh you know uh on Wednesday
4:47 throughout the day and yesterday also
4:49 here in the south of Beirut. There were
4:51 evacuation orders giving to various
4:54 areas in Dah neighborhood which is the
4:58 south of Beirut mainly
5:00 residential area. Uh this forced
5:02 thousands of people to rush for their
5:04 safety. They were stranded uh in their
5:07 cars throughout the night. Although um a
5:10 strike did not happen. The drone was
5:12 flying over uh the whole uh evening
5:14 yesterday. And this is a sound that
5:17 makes all the Lebanese uh on alert
5:20 because this is usually followed by
5:22 attacks. So the whole situation here is
5:25 very tense. The government is still
5:27 counting the dead. Uh the number is
5:29 rising. Hospitals are calling on people
5:33 to come and identify dead bodies. Uh you
5:35 know the the the whole burial situation
5:39 hasn't like uh started yet because
5:40 people are still searching for their
5:43 loved ones, missing ones. It's a country
5:46 and the nation in shock in trauma and
5:48 they feel they're left alone to face
5:53 this war without anyone able to stop it.
5:56 Lena, now though we have the prospect of
5:58 talks with Israel, this is something
6:00 that the president has been calling for
6:03 and Benjamin Netanyahu is now offering.
6:05 But what can the government give to
6:08 Israel during these talks given that so
6:10 far they've been unable to disarm Hezbollah?
6:16 >> Yeah, I think Lucy this is the key
6:17 point. I think it's unprecedented to
6:20 have direct talks between Israel and
6:22 Lebanon. This is a country at war since
6:25 the 80s with Israel. So this is really a
6:28 huge step. But the problem is Hezbollah.
6:30 I mean the government could not disarm
6:32 Hezbollah could not stop Hezbollah's
6:35 firing rockets into Israel. They
6:37 couldn't even expel the Iranian
6:39 ambassador even though when they decided sobbah
6:41 sobbah
6:44 takes order and acts in alliance with
6:48 Iran. So Iran is the key partner here to
6:51 tell Hezbollah to stop so that the
6:53 negotiations would continue. But the
6:56 issue of this disarming Hezbollah is
6:58 really critical. This is something that
7:01 has been decided in the 2024 war and
7:04 hasn't been implemented and it is hard
7:06 to see how it's going to uh you know be
7:09 implemented possibly in the south of
7:11 Lebanon. Uh but um how are you going to
7:13 stop a whole group that has been been
7:16 built growing and recruiting and being
7:19 trained by Iran, paid by Iran since the 1980s.
7:24 >> Lena, thank you so much. Really good to
7:26 get your analysis there. Well, let's get
7:28 more analysis from Jerusalem. We can
7:30 speak to our correspondent Daniel Simone
7:32 who is there. Daniel, how is it being
7:34 squared in Israel today that there's
7:36 this offer of talks being made to
7:44 that's right. There was a statement from
7:46 the Israeli government last night from
7:48 Benjamin Netanyahu saying that he's
7:51 instructed his cabinet to seek talks
7:55 with Lebanon about disarming Hezbollah.
7:57 There's been previous statements from
8:00 the uh Lebanese president Joseph Owen,
8:02 including uh some comments that were
8:04 released yesterday where he's saying
8:07 that the only solution to the situation
8:09 in Lebanon is a ceasefire and then talks
8:12 with Israel. If those talks go ahead,
8:14 there there's um talk of it being next
8:17 week in the United States, but it's said
8:19 to be reported to be at an ambassadorial
8:23 level rather than at a leadership level.
8:26 This all comes uh during the this huge
8:28 dispute about whether Lebanon is
8:30 included uh in the ceasefire deal
8:33 involving Iran, the US and Israel. The
8:36 US and Israel saying it's not included.
8:38 Pakistan which mediate mediated the deal
8:41 saying it was included. Iran also saying
8:44 that and that's obviously a key dispute
8:47 ahead of this weekend and the talks that
8:49 are meant to take place in Pakistan.
8:52 Israel saying it's going to carry on uh
8:54 with its war in Lebanon against
8:57 Hezbollah. It's occupied a large part of
8:59 southern Lebanon. It said that the
9:00 hundreds of thousands of people who've
9:02 been displaced will not be allowed to
9:05 return until it decides that Hezbollah
9:08 no longer poses a threat. And of and of
9:10 course it carried out those devastating
9:13 air strikes in Lebanon on Wednesday
9:15 which killed over 300 people. attacks
