Representatives from Lebanon and Israel met at the US State Department in Washington, DC on Tuesday for the first session of a two-day round of negotiations. Lebanese negotiators hope the talks will end Israel's invasion of their country.
The negotiations began at 9am local time as Israel's invasion of Lebanon pushes deeper than at any point since 2000, and Hezbollah and Israel continue to trade attacks. According to Lebanon's Ministry of Public Health, Israel has killed 3,468 people in Lebanon since March 2.
Lebanon's government is still pushing for a total ceasefire. However, as talks started, Israel was striking various parts of southern Lebanon. Lebanon is also trying to get Israel to withdraw from Lebanese territory in the south, so that more than 1.2 million displaced people can return home, and the state can resume finding a way to disarm Hezbollah and rebuild areas devastated by Israeli attacks.
Israel is meanwhile looking to get assurances that Lebanon will disarm Hezbollah, a prospect analysts say Israel knows is complicated by the continuation of its military operations and occupation of swaths of southern Lebanon. Instead, Israel appears to be trying to fuel sectarian tensions inside Lebanon, leading to chaos and internal strife.
An initial meeting took place in April between Israel and Lebanon's ambassadors to the United States. A second round took place in May with a larger delegation on both sides. On Friday, a meeting took place with Lebanese and Israeli military representatives, while Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese group, is not involved in the meetings.
Israel claimed the two sides found common ground in that they both wanted to see Hezbollah disarmed. Some Israeli officials suggested there may soon be trade agreements and an exchange of tourists between the two countries. Lebanon, however, said it preferred to find a deal closer to the 1949 armistice agreement.
In the last meeting, Beirut reportedly outlined the damage done by Israeli attacks since the 2024 ceasefire agreement and presented detailed maps showing homes destroyed or razed by Israel. That remains to be seen, but for now, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country's military would continue attacking Lebanon.
On Monday, Netanyahu announced that attacks on Beirut's southern suburbs would resume, despite a ceasefire. Iran, which has attempted to include Lebanon in a wider ceasefire, then intervened by threatening to attack northern Israel.
US President Donald Trump reportedly intervened to stop Israel's attacks. He announced another ceasefire, after his previous announcement of one between Israel and Lebanon on April 16, after claiming he had gotten the approval of Netanyahu and spoken to Hezbollah. But attacks from Israel and Hezbollah are continuing.
Not everyone is on the same page. Some Lebanese support the talks, including President Joseph Aoun, who said, "There is no option other than negotiation." Others, however, oppose direct talks. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and his allies, Hezbollah, have said indirect talks are preferred and that negotiations cannot be conducted while attacks are ongoing.
The talks come amid a complex backdrop: the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28, killing longtime leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iran is Hezbollah's primary benefactor. Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, have also been working behind the scenes to de-escalate the situation.
Source: www.aljazeera.com