Israel and Lebanon agree to meet again after their first round of dialogue in Washington

“All parties agreed to begin direct negotiations at a mutually agreed upon date and location,” State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said in a statement.

Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, and his Lebanese counterpart, Nada Hamadeh Moawad, maintained a two and a half hour meeting in the presence of the North American Secretary of State, Marco Rubiowith the aim of putting an end to the Israeli attacks in Lebanon, which began after the war with Iran.

The negotiations, from which the Shiite group Hezbollah was excluded, constituted the highest-level meeting between Israel and Lebanon since 1993.

“The preparatory meeting was constructive,” said the Lebanese envoy in another statement, which also “called for a ceasefire” and the return of displaced people to their homes.

According to the State Department, Israel called for “the disarmament of all non-state terrorist groups,” referring to the Hezbollah militia, and reiterated its commitment to “engage in direct negotiations to resolve outstanding issues and achieve lasting peace.”

For its part, Lebanon demanded “a ceasefire” and respect for the conditions of the cessation of hostilities announced in 2024, which guarantees the “territorial integrity and full sovereignty” of the country, according to the US government.

President Donald Trump’s Administration insisted that any cessation of hostilities must be agreed upon directly between the two governments, with the mediation of the United States, and not through parallel channels.

At the end of the meeting, at the State Department, the Israeli ambassador stated that the talks showed that his country and Lebanon are “united” in the fight against Hezbollah.

The talks take place after six weeks of clashes between Hezbollah and Israel in Lebanese territory, which have left more than 2,000 dead and more than a million displaced due to Israeli attacks and incursions, which Benjamin Netanyahu’s government justifies by the extremist group’s rocket fire.

Israel has refused to include Lebanon in the truce that the United States declared with Iran last week and has continued with the attacks on Lebanese territory, including this Tuesday, while the meeting was being held in Washington.

The discrepancies between both delegations are great, since the Lebanese government calls for an immediate ceasefire that allows for a broader dialogue, but Israel dismisses it and demands the total disarmament of Hezbollah and the creation of a “security zone” in southern Lebanon that allows it to control the strip between the border and the Litani River.

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem on Monday rejected the “meaningless” talks with Israel and considered that a change in strategy like this requires a prior internal consensus among the Lebanese.

At the beginning of the meeting, Marco Rubio described the meeting as a “historic opportunity” and stated that it is not only about addressing a possible ceasefire but also “a permanent solution to 20 or 30 years of Hezbollah influence” in the region.