Lebanon, Israel begin first direct talks in more than 30 years under US mediation

Lebanon and Israel began the first round of direct diplomatic talks in more than 30 years on Tuesday under US mediation as Israel continues to pursue an offensive in southern Lebanon that it says targets Hezbollah.

Lebanese ambassador to the US, Nada Hamadeh, and Israeli ambassador Yechiel Leiter, represented their countries during the meeting at the State Department.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who also doubles as US President Donald Trump's national security adviser, US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa, Counsellor Michael Needham and US envoy to the UN Mike Waltz represented the Trump administration.

Rubio sought to temper expectations for the talks, saying the meeting represents the start of a "process", rather than a culminating event.

"All of the complexities of this matter are not going to be resolved in the next six hours, but we can begin to move forward to create a framework where something can happen, something very positive, something very permanent," he said.

"This will take time, but we believe it is worth this endeavour, and it's a historic endeavour that we hope to build on. And the hope today is that we can outline the framework upon which a permanent and lasting peace can be developed," he added.

Asked what he expected from the sit-down, Leiter, the Israeli envoy, replied: "Only good things."

Lebanon Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi said that direct ceasefire talks with Israel in the US represent a “new track” separate from Iran-related negotiations, emphasising that only the Lebanese state has the authority to negotiate on behalf of the country.

“The Lebanese state alone holds the authority to negotiate on behalf of Lebanon,” Raggi said on X, describing the talks as an effort to reach a ceasefire with Israel while reinforcing “the principle of national sovereignty at the heart of Lebanese diplomacy”.

“Lebanon is seeking, through direct negotiations with Israel, to reach a ceasefire,” he added, noting that the new diplomatic track has “in practice reinforced the separation between the Lebanese file and the Iranian track”.

The presence of Rubio signalled Washington's desire to see progress.

The Israeli army has expanded its air and ground offensive across Lebanon since a cross-border attack by Hezbollah on March 2, despite a ceasefire deal that took effect in November 2024.

According to Lebanese health authorities, at least 2,089 people have since been killed and 6,762 injured in the Israeli assault.

Israel occupies areas in southern Lebanon, some for decades and others since the previous conflicts in October 2023 and November the following year.

The meeting came at a critical juncture in the crisis in the Middle East, a week into a fragile ceasefire between ​the US, Israel and Iran.

Iran says Israel's campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon must be included in any agreement to end the wider war, complicating talks mediated ​by Pakistan aimed at averting further economic fallout.

The conflict that began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28 has led to the ⁠largest oil supply disruption in history, piling pressure on Trump to find an off-ramp.

The meeting ​marked a rare encounter between representatives of governments that have remained technically in a state of war since Israel was established in 1948.

Rubio was hosting Tuesday's talks amid questions over his lack of in-person participation in talks with Iran, with the Republican president ​sending Vice President JD Vance to Islamabad over the weekend to lead the US negotiations.

Rubio was with Trump in Florida watching a mixed martial arts event as Vance announced in Pakistan that talks with ‌the Iranians ⁠had concluded with no breakthrough.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said in a statement on X as the meeting started that he hoped it would "mark the beginning of ending the suffering of the Lebanese people in general, and the southerners in particular".

The Lebanese government, led by Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, has called for negotiations with Israel despite objections from Hezbollah, ​reflecting worsening tensions between the group ​and its opponents.

Lebanese officials have said Moawad only has authority to discuss a ceasefire in Tuesday's meeting.

But Israeli government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian ​said Israel would not discuss a ceasefire.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar told reporters in Jerusalem ahead of the meeting that talks would ​focus on the disarmament ⁠of Hezbollah, which he said must take place before Israel and Lebanon could sign any peace agreement and normalise relations.

He said Hezbollah was a problem for Israel's security and Lebanon's sovereignty that needed to be addressed to move relations to a different phase. "We want to reach peace and normalisation with the state of Lebanon," he said.

The Lebanese state has been seeking to disarm Hezbollah peacefully ⁠since a war ​between the group and Israel in 2024. Any move by Lebanon to disarm it by force risks igniting ​conflict in a country shattered by civil war from 1975 to 1990. Moves against Hezbollah by a Western-backed government in 2008 prompted a short civil war.

The current government banned Hezbollah's military wing after it opened fire on Israel ​last month.