Israel, Lebanon Convene First Direct Talks in Over Four Decades
Civilian delegations from both nations assembled at the UN peacekeeping headquarters in Naqoura, Lebanon, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office, as reported by media outlets. The Wednesday gathering represented a groundbreaking departure from previous military-only discussions under the framework established following the November 2024 armistice.
A spokesperson for Netanyahu characterized the session as "historic," framing it as a preliminary move toward potential bilateral collaboration. US special envoy for Lebanon, Morgan Ortagus, participated in the proceedings, the American Embassy in Beirut confirmed.
Hours before the meeting, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam told journalists that economic partnership with Israel remains contingent upon achieving a comprehensive peace settlement. "We are still far from that," he said.
The diplomatic breakthrough emerged amid mounting US demands for direct dialogue between the neighboring nations as frontier frictions intensified. West Jerusalem has consistently alleged that Iran-backed Hezbollah breached the ceasefire agreement while attempting to reconstitute its arsenal.
The truce concluded over 12 months of border warfare that erupted when Hezbollah initiated strikes against Israeli territory in support of Palestinians in Gaza. The conflict subsequently intensified into a comprehensive Israeli military campaign that eliminated key Hezbollah commanders, obliterated weapons reserves, and inflicted substantial civilian losses.
The armistice provisions mandate the Lebanese army dismantle Hezbollah's military apparatus, though West Jerusalem maintains the measures remain inadequate and has escalated bombardments. Beirut has cautioned that Israeli aerial assaults risk plunging the nation into a "new war."
Salam stated Wednesday that the initial stage of consolidating all armaments under government control depends on an Israeli pullback from occupied territories, adding that Beirut welcomes US and French oversight to verify any residual Hezbollah weapons stockpiles in southern regions.
Netanyahu has persistently called on Lebanon to embrace the Abraham Accords—the framework through which multiple Arab and Muslim nations have established normalized relations with Israel. Beirut has declined to adopt that position.
The previous Israel-Lebanon direct negotiations occurred in 1983 following Israel's incursion into Lebanon, yielding an accord designed to formalize relations that ultimately failed ratification.
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