US says Israel, Lebanon agree to direct talks in ‘historic milestone’

Israel and Lebanon have agreed to begin direct negotiations at a mutually agreed-upon time and place after a trilateral meeting hosted by the United States in Washington on Tuesday.

The U.S. State Department said the meeting led to “constructive talks on steps toward initiating direct negotiations,” which it described as a “historic milestone.”

It said all sides had agreed to begin direct negotiations at a later date and in a different location. Details were not initially available.

The talks, the first direct diplomatic engagement between the two countries in more than 30 years, came as Israel continues an air and ground offensive in southern Lebanon targeting Hezbollah following a March 2 cross-border attack, despite the November 2024 ceasefire.

The U.S. expressed hope that the negotiations could lead to a “comprehensive peace agreement” and assured both countries of its support for further talks.

Israeli and Lebanese reports also said the meeting at the level of ambassadors was intended to mark the start of direct negotiations.

Israeli media reported that the meeting between the Lebanese ambassador to the United States, Nada Hamadeh Moawad, and the Israeli representative in Washington, Yechiel Leiter, lasted about two hours.

Israel and the Iran-allied Hezbollah militia in Lebanon renewed fighting shortly after the beginning of U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is now seeking a lasting peace agreement with Lebanon and the disarmament of the Hezbollah.

The Lebanese government, which is not a party to the war, is aiming for a ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon.

After the meeting, Moawad told the Lebanese television station MTV that she had called for a ceasefire, the return of internally displaced persons and concrete measures to alleviate the severe humanitarian crisis that the country continues to suffer as a result of the ongoing Israeli attacks.

Lebanon reaffirmed the “urgent need” for the full implementation of the Nov. 2024 deal, stressing territorial integrity and sovereignty and calling for a ceasefire and “concrete measures” to address the country’s worsening humanitarian crisis, the statement added.

The U.S. said any potential end to hostilities must be achieved between the governments of Israel and Lebanon with U.S. mediation, and not through separate negotiating channels, in a nod to ceasefire talks between the U.S. and Iran.

According to Israeli broadcaster Kan and the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the talks also focused on establishing a clear border between the two countries, a matter that has been a source of dispute in the past.

The government in Beirut committed in 2024 to disarming Hezbollah, but has failed to achieve this, outmatched by the powerful Shiite group, which has rejected calls to disarm.

The Israeli army has expanded its air and ground offensive across Lebanon since a cross-border attack by Hezbollah on March 2, despite a ceasefire deal that took effect in November 2024.

According to Lebanese health authorities, at least 2,089 people have since been killed and 6,762 injured in the Israeli assault.

Hezbollah has rejected the planned negotiations in Washington, calling them “futile” and urging the Lebanese government to focus on confronting Israeli “aggression.”

Israel occupies areas in southern Lebanon, some for decades and others since the previous conflicts in October 2023 and November the following year.

DAILYSABAH