BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon and Israel's first direct talks in decades this week, spurred by the latest war between Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, have been met by both high hopes and condemnation.
Officials have sought to temper expectations of what might come out of the negotiations, but the fact that they are happening at all represents a significant step.
The two countries have had a rocky and often hostile relationship
since Israel’s inception in 1948. Like the majority of Arab countries, Lebanon has no formal diplomatic relations with Israel, and a 1955 law in Lebanon forbids Lebanese citizens from having any contact with Israelis - although the law is selectively enforced.
Here's why they are talking now, what has come out of previous diplomatic efforts, and what might come out of this one.
On March 2, two days after the U.S. and Israel launched their war on Iran, Hezbollah entered the fray by firing missiles across the border. Israel responded with an intense bombing campaign and ground invasion.
Lebanon’s current government came to power in early 2025 on a reformist platform that included disarming non-state actors. Officials were angered by Hezbollah's decision to enter a new war. The government moved to criminalize the group's military activities, declared Iran’s ambassador persona non grata, and banned the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
President Joseph Aoun offered direct negotiations with Israel - the first in decades - in exchange for a cessation of hostilities. Neither Israel nor the Americans responded. French President Emmanuel Macron backed Aoun, but even then, the calls fell on deaf ears.
That changed after the announcement of a truce between Iran and the United States and talks between the two brokered by Pakistan.
Tehran included as a condition for permanent ceasefire that the cessation of hostilities should include Lebanon. Though Pakistan said it was part of the agreement, Israel dismissed Lebanon’s inclusion in the ceasefire, and Washington later followed suit.
The Lebanese state, meanwhile, had reservations about Lebanon being a card in the Iranian negotiations and wanted to separate the war in Lebanon into its own diplomatic track.
Hezbollah and its supporters said that, given Lebanon's weak position, Beirut should rely on Tehran’s leverage and not directly negotiate with Israel while under fire. The group accused the government of offering “free concessions” to an enemy state.
After Israel launched over 100 airstrikes in Lebanon, including in some of the busiest areas in the heart of Beirut killing over 350 people, on April 8 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he had agreed to direct talks with Lebanon.
The direct negotiations kicked off Tuesday, when Lebanon and Israel’s ambassadors to the United States met in Washington in-person preparatory meeting.
The two countries are framing these talks very differently, and many in Lebanon fear that Beirut has little leverage.
Lebanon wants to follow the model of the talks in Pakistan, with a truce in place before beginning talks for a permanent ceasefire. Israel has said there will be no ceasefire, though it has halted its attacks in Beirut since last Wednesday, as per Washington’s request.
Apart from calling for a ceasefire, Lebanon wants the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon, the release of Lebanese prisoners held in Israel, the return of the displaced, and reconstruction. Lebanon has also pushed for boosting international funding for the military so it can deploy across the country and assume full-sovereignty over the country’s geography.
Israel has framed these talks as peace talks largely focusing on disarming Hezbollah. Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter hailed what he called a convergence of opinion about removing Hezbollah’s influence from Lebanon, saying he was encouraged by a “wonderful exchange.”
Meanwhile, Lebanon Ambassador Nada Hamadeh Mouawad in a written statement to the press described the meeting as “constructive."
At Tuesday's meeting in Washington - a preliminary session focused on logistics rather than substance - Lebanon and Israel's ambassadors sat quietly face-to-face while Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other U.S. officials sat in between. The meeting ended with no ceasefire. The two sides said formal negotiations will proceed, without giving a date.
“This is a process, not an event,” Rubio said. “This is more than just one day. This will take time.”
Previous rounds of peace negotiations between the two countries have often gone nowhere or resulted in agreements that were never fully implemented or later revoked.
In 1949, indirect negotiations led to a non-aggression pact that remained in place until 1967, when Israel withdrew from all previously signed armistice agreements after the six-day war between it and several Arab countries.
In 1982, during Lebanon’s civil war and after Israel invaded Lebanon in an offensive against the Palestinian Liberation Organization, Lebanon's government entered into direct negotiations with Israel. In May 1983, the countries signed an agreement under which Lebanon would formally recognize Israel, Israel would withdraw from Lebanon, and a security zone would be set up in southern Lebanon.
The deal fell apart under internal divisions and escalation in Lebanon’s civil war. It was formally rescinded by the Lebanese government a year later.
In 1993, along with a number of other Arab countries, Lebanon took part in direct peace negotiations with Israel in the leadup to the Oslo peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. The Lebanese track did not continue after that.
In 2022, following indirect negotiations mediated by the U.S., Israel and Lebanon agreed on delineation of their long-disputed maritime border as a precursor to moving toward a land border agreement. The agreement was touted at the time as decreasing the risk of armed conflict.
But after the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack in southern Israel sparked the war in Gaza, Hezbollah began firing missiles across the border in a “support front” for the Palestinians. The ensuing low-level conflict between Israel and the Lebanese militant group escalated into full-blown war in September 2024.
Lebanon entered into indirect negotiations with Israel to reach a ceasefire in that conflict, again mediated by Washington. The resulting agreement, which included moves to disarm Hezbollah and Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon, was never fully enforced. Lebanon is now calling for a return to that agreement.
