A third round of direct talks between Israel and Lebanon kicked off in Washington Thursday, days before the expiration of a truce that reduced but did not stop the fighting between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

Lebanese officials are hoping that the two-day negotiations will yield a new ceasefire deal and pave the way for tackling a series of thorny issues, including the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon and the disarmament of Hezbollah.

Ayman al-Zain watched on a recent afternoon as a bulldozer cleared the rubble of what used to be his sports clothing store, which was one of dozens of buildings destroyed in Israeli strikes.

With a nominal truce in place that has reduced but not halted the fighting, Al-Zain tried to assess whether to rebuild the shop in Beirut's southern suburbs that he once hoped to pass down to his kids. But it's unlikely he will be able to do so anytime soon, and not only because of the fear of more airstrikes.

Hezbollah said on Thursday that it targeted Israeli troops in northern Israel with a drone, as Lebanon and Israel were holding a new round of direct talks in Washington.

In a statement, the group said it "targeted a gathering of Israeli enemy army soldiers at the Rosh HaNikra site" near the border with Lebanon with a drone.

Israel's military said Friday that one of its soldiers died in combat in southern Lebanon, bringing its losses to 20 personnel since the war with Hezbollah began in early March.

Staff Sergeant Negev Dagan, 20, "fell during combat in southern Lebanon", the military said, without providing additional information.

Israel's military called on residents of five villages in southern Lebanon to immediately evacuate on Friday ahead of expected attacks, despite a truce with Lebanon intended to halt the fighting.

"In light of the terrorist Hezbollah's violation of the ceasefire agreement, the Defense Army is compelled to act against it forcefully," the military's Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee posted on X, listing five villages near the city of Tyre, on the south Lebanon coast.

The Senate Armed Services Committee hearing with the top U.S. military leader in the Middle East ended with a focus on the challenge of disarming Hezbollah.

Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker, the committee’s Republican chair, noted how Hezbollah has continually fired rockets into Israel, while Israel had launched a ground offensive into southern Lebanon focused on Hezbollah, displacing a million people.

A senior Lebanese official familiar with the negotiations in Washington said Thursday Lebanon wants a complete ceasefire first and then would negotiate withdrawal of Israeli forces. The issue of Hezbollah’s weapons would be dealt with politically in Lebanon after that, he said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to speak frankly about the talks.

There are no indications of any serious breakthrough in the negotiations between Lebanon and Israel, a source told Al-Arabiya following around four hours of Lebanese-Israeli talks in Washington.

"The atmosphere of the third round of Lebanese-Israeli negotiations does not call for optimism," the source said.

The ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon will be extended for a period that is still unknown until the moment, Lebanese sources told Sky News Arabia as the third round of Lebanese-Israeli talks kicked off in Washington.

"Israel is insisting on continuing its operations in south Lebanon and Washington has informed Lebanon that it is pressing to prevent strikes on Beirut and its southern suburbs," the sources said.

President Joseph Aoun is proposing an "Armistice Agreement+" in the negotiations with Israel, whose third round begins Thursday, a media report said.

An official source told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper that Aoun views the negotiations as "limited to security procedures and arrangements, ultimately leading to a formula similar to the 1949 Armistice Agreement, albeit in a more developed form, described by some close to him as "Armistice Agreement+".