By Rami Ayyub and Maya Gebeily JERUSALEM/BEIRUT, May 29 (Reuters) - Israeli forces have advanced to positions north of Lebanon's Litani River, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday, as Israel escalates attacks against Hezbollah militants after warning thousandsmore Lebanese to flee their villages. The Israeli advance came as the U.S. military hosted Israeli and Lebanese defence representatives in Washington on Friday to pursue a U.S.-brokered plan to forge peace between the two countries and disarm Iran-backed Hezbollah.

By Samia Nakhoul, Maya Gebeily, Tom Perry and Laila Bassam BEIRUT, June 11 (Reuters) - Iran is waging a calculated campaign to preserve Lebanon as its last bastion of influence on the Mediterranean, tying the country's fate to a grand bargain with Washington as it seeks to end Hezbollah's war with Israel on its own terms, not Beirut's. That effort is colliding with a historic U.S.-sponsored negotiating track between Lebanon and Israel aimed at ending decades of conflict along their frontier and redefining the balance of power in a country long caught between regional foes.