Lebanon and Israel hold first direct talks since 1983
Israel and Lebanon held their first direct meeting in decades on Wednesday, one year after a ceasefire agreement ended a war with Hezbollah.
Civilian representatives from both countries met at the UN peacekeeping force’s headquarters in Naqoura, near the Israeli border, with the presence of US special envoy for Lebanon, Morgan Ortagus.
The US embassy in Lebanon said in a statement that the session was convened to "assess ongoing efforts" to secure a durable end to hostilities, within the mechanism that oversees the Israel–Hezbollah ceasefire.
The last time Israel and Lebanon engaged in direct negotiations took place in 1983, following Israel’s invasion of Lebanon. The talks led to an agreement that would have normalised relations, but it was never ratified.
Washington has been stepping up pressure on Lebanon to move quickly to disarm Hezbollah and, according to Israeli media, on Israel to prevent the collapse of the fragile ceasefire.
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Ortagus was a day earlier in Jerusalem where she met Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar. Israeli media said she also met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israel framed the meeting as the first attempt to establish an economic relationship between Israel and Lebanon.
"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed the acting director of the National Security Council to send a representative on his behalf to a meeting with government-economic elements in Lebanon," the Israeli prime minister’s office said.
"This is an initial attempt to establish a basis for a relationship and economic cooperation between Israel and Lebanon."
Earlier, Lebanon’s presidential office announced that Simon Karam, an attorney and former ambassador to the US, would head a delegation to meetings of a supervision committee overseeing the implementation of the 2024 ceasefire deal that ended over a year of hostilities.
Until now, the committee had consisted of military representatives from Lebanon, the US, France, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
Lebanon does not recognise Israel, and as such has insisted on military figures overseeing the ceasefire with Israel. Lebanese military representatives have avoided direct contact with Israel’s delegation.
Despite the signing of a ceasefire in November last year, Israel has carried out near daily strikes on Lebanon and continues to occupy five strategic areas. Thousands of people have been unable to return to their destroyed border villages due to heavy Israeli military presence and activity.
More than 300 people, including over 100 civilians, have been killed in Israeli strikes since 27 November 2024.
Israel has ramped up its attacks in recent weeks, fuelling fears that it could escalate its bombing campaign into a full-scale military operation. Israeli leaders have also stepped up accusations that Beirut is stalling efforts to seize Hezbollah’s weapons.
Israel’s public broadcaster KAN reported on Tuesday that the country has been gearing up for a "major escalation" with Hezbollah, which it considers "unavoidable" despite US diplomatic efforts.
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