Lebanon and Israel have held their first diplomatic talks in over three decades, a rare encounter aimed at ending fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah group.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who mediated, described the event as a “historic opportunity” to end Hezbollah’s influence, reports BBC.
A US statement said the two sides had agreed to launch direct negotiations, according to an official statement.
Israel said its objective is to disarm all non-state terror groups – a reference to Hezbollah. In contrast, Lebanon called for an immediate ceasefire alongside urgent steps to tackle its deepening humanitarian crisis. The two countries do not maintain formal diplomatic relations, and their last direct high-level engagement dates back to 1993.
More than 2,000 people have been killed since Israeli military operations in Lebanon began on 2 March, shortly after US and Israeli strikes in Iran.
While talks were under way in Washington on Tuesday, Hezbollah claimed it carried out at least 24 attacks targeting Israel and Israeli forces in Lebanon.
Throughout the day, drone and rocket sirens sounded across communities in northern Israel. Israeli authorities have maintained that their operations are aimed at dismantling Hezbollah — a group they also confronted during escalations in 2023 and 2024 amid the ongoing Gaza conflict.
US State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said after the talks that both sides had agreed to work towards reducing Hezbollah’s influence. He added that the Lebanese delegation had also called for a “ceasefire and concrete measures to address and alleviate the severe humanitarian crisis” in the country.
At the same time, the United States “expressed its support for Israel’s right to defend itself” from Hezbollah’s attacks, Pigott said.
Speaking to reporters ahead of the meeting, Rubio said the meeting was “a process”. “This will take time, but we believe it is worth this endeavour,” he said. “It’s a historic gathering that we hope to build on.”
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said he hoped the discussions would “mark the beginning of the end of the suffering of the Lebanese people in general, and those in the south in particular.”
He stressed that the “only solution” to the conflict lies in the Lebanese armed forces “being solely responsible for the security of the area”.
However, the Lebanese government’s ability to confront Hezbollah remains limited. Ahead of the talks, a senior figure from the group signalled defiance, saying it would not be bound by any agreement reached in Washington.
“We are not bound by what they agreed to,” said Wafiq Safa, a member of Hezbollah’s political council.
Founded in 1982, Hezbollah is a heavily armed and influential militia with strong control over Lebanon’s predominantly Shia southern regions and the southern suburbs of Beirut. The group also holds two cabinet-level positions within the Lebanese government.
Tensions between Hezbollah and the central government have escalated since the group joined the conflict involving Israel and Iran — its principal backer.
Meanwhile, during separate US-Iran discussions held in Pakistan, Iranian negotiators insisted that Lebanon be included in any ceasefire arrangement. Both the US and Israel rejected that proposal.
A US State Department official told the BBC that the Israel-Lebanon talks had been scheduled a month earlier, before the US-Iran discussions in Islamabad were confirmed.
In addition to the more than 2,000 people killed, about a million people have been displaced in the conflict since the most recent hostilities began.
