In a potential boost to Middle East ceasefire efforts, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that he has authorized direct negotiations with Lebanon “as soon as possible” aimed at disarming Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants and establishing relations between the neighbours.
Israel and Lebanon have technically been at war since Israel was established in 1948, and Netanyahu later stressed that there was no ceasefire between them.
In a video statement, he said Israel will keep striking Hezbollah until security is restored in northern Israel.
There was no immediate response from Lebanon.
But Israel-Lebanon negotiations were expected to begin next week at the State Department in Washington, according to a US official and a person familiar with the plans, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the delicacy of the matter.
The prospect of talks appeared to bolster the tentative ceasefire in the Iran war that has staggered under the weight of Israel’s bombardment of Beirut, Tehran’s continued chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz and uncertainty over whether talks can find common ground.
However later Thursday, US President Donald Trump appeared to cast doubt on the effectiveness of the ceasefire, writing on his social media platform: “Iran is doing a very poor job, dishonourable some would say, of allowing Oil to go through the Strait of Hormuz.”
“That is not the agreement we have!” Trump wrote of the trickle of ships Iran has allowed to pass through the crucial waterway.
Meanwhile, Kuwait accused Iran and its proxies of launching drone attacks targeting it on Thursday despite the ceasefire, as Saudi Arabia said recent attacks damaged a key pipeline in the kingdom. The accusation from
Kuwait’s Foreign Ministry put new pressure on the ceasefire ahead of planned talks between the U.S. and Iran this weekend.
Saudi Arabia’s state-run Saudi Press Agency, quoting an anonymous official, said its crucial East-West pipeline, which carries oil out to the Red Sea and avoids the Strait of Hormuz, was damaged in the recent attacks.
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard denied launching attacks on Persian Gulf states after Kuwait’s announcement.
Such an assault would mirror the continuing pressure campaign Tehran is waging on the US and its allies, particularly amid efforts to secure a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
Israel’s announcement of negotiations with Lebanon comes amid disagreement over whether the ceasefire deal included a pause in fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, and a day after Israel pounded Beirut with airstrikes, the deadliest day in Lebanon since the war began 28 February.
The launch of direct peace talks between the neighbouring nations is a significant achievement, though reaching an agreement will be difficult after decades of hostilities, Hezbollah’s continued presence and longstanding disagreements over the countries’ shared land border.
The talks in Washington are expected to be handled on the American side by the US ambassador to Lebanon, Michel Issa, and on the Israeli side by the Israeli ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter, according to the person familiar with the planning.
It was not immediately clear who would represent Lebanon. The timing and location of the talks was first reported by Axios.
Israel vows to continue striking Hezbollah in Lebanon
Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, warned in a social media post Thursday that continued Israeli attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon would bring “explicit costs and STRONG responses.”
Qalibaf has been discussed as a possible negotiator who could meet US Vice President JD Vance this weekend in Islamabad. The White House has said Vance would lead the delegation for talks starting Saturday.
Iran had said Israel’s ongoing attacks on Hezbollah were violating the ceasefire agreement. Netanyahu and Trump have said they were not.
Trump said Thursday that he has asked Netanyahu to dial back the strikes in Lebanon. Lebanon’s health ministry said more than 300 people were killed and more than 1,100 wounded Wednesday by Israeli strikes on central Beirut and other areas of Lebanon that Israel said targeted Hezbollah, which joined the war in support of Tehran.
