Israel’s Netanyahu orders direct talks with Lebanon, US to host meeting next week

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday he had ordered direct talks with Lebanon aimed at disarming Hezbollah and establishing “peace relations,” with Washington revealing that it was set to host discussions at the State Department next week.

“In light of Lebanon’s repeated requests to open direct negotiations with Israel, I instructed the cabinet yesterday to begin direct negotiations with Lebanon as soon as possible,” Netanyahu said in a statement.

“Negotiations will focus on disarming Hezbollah and establishing peace relations between Israel and Lebanon. Israel appreciates today’s call by the Prime Minister of Lebanon to demilitarize Beirut,” he added.

Following the announcement, an Israeli official told Axios there was “no ceasefire in Lebanon” as of now and that “the negotiations with the Lebanese government will begin in the coming days.”

Lebanon has spent the last 24 hours advocating for a temporary ceasefire to allow for broader talks with Israel, a senior Lebanese official told Reuters, saying it would be a “separate track but the same model” as a fragile truce brokered by Pakistan between the US and Iran.

The official said no date or location had been set yet but Lebanon needed the US as a mediator and guarantor of any agreement.

A source familiar with the matter said that Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam is expected to visit Washington next week for meetings with senior US officials.

“We can confirm that the Department will host a meeting next week to discuss ongoing ceasefire negotiations with Israel and Lebanon,” a State Department official said.

A Hezbollah lawmaker later on Thursday reiterated the militia’s rejection of any direct negotiations between Lebanon and Israel.

“We reiterate our rejection of any direct negotiations between Lebanon and the Israeli enemy, and the necessity of upholding national principles, foremost among them the Israeli withdrawal, the cessation of hostilities, and the return of residents to their villages and towns,” MP Ali Fayyad said in a statement shared by Hezbollah’s media channels.

Fayyad added that the group called on the Lebanese government to “adhere to the ceasefire as a precondition before proceeding with any further steps.”

An hour before Netanyahu’s statement, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said that “the only solution to the situation in Lebanon is to achieve a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, followed by direct negotiations between them.”

He said he was working on a diplomatic track on this matter that was starting to be seen “positively” by international actors.

Israel launched a renewed offensive against Hezbollah after the Iran-backed militia began firing at Israel on March 2. Israeli strikes have killed around 1,700 people and uprooted more than a million people, according to Lebanese authorities.

At least 400 Hezbollah fighters have been killed, according to sources familiar with the militia, which has fired hundreds of rockets and drones at Israel.