WASHINGTON/BEIRUT/JERUSALEM, April 14 (Reuters) – US Secretary of State Marco Rubio hosted the first direct talks between Israel and Lebanon in decades on Tuesday, and the two sides reported positive discussions, although it was not immediately clear whether they had reached agreement on a peace plan.
The conversation represented a rare meeting between representatives of governments that have technically been in a state of war since Israel’s creation in 1948. They began negotiations with conflicting agendas: Israel ruled out any discussion of a ceasefire in Lebanon and demanded that Beirut disarm Hezbollah.
The US State Department released a statement after the meeting, saying the two sides had “productive discussions on steps to begin direct negotiations.”
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The statement outlined the positions of each country, but did not say whether they had reached a consensus.
“All parties agreed to begin direct negotiations at a mutually agreed date and location,” the statement said.
After the more than two-hour meeting in Washington, Yechiel Leiter, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, told reporters that the Lebanese government had made clear during the negotiations that it would no longer be “occupied” by Hezbollah, the Iran-aligned Lebanese militia. He declined to say whether Israel would cease its attacks on Lebanon.
Lebanese Ambassador Nada Moawad described the preliminary meeting as “constructive”. In a statement to Reuters, she stated that, during the meeting, she called for a ceasefire, the return of displaced people to their homes and measures to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Lebanon caused by the conflict.
The meeting takes place at a critical moment in the crisis in the Middle East, a week after the start of a fragile ceasefire between the United States, Israel and Iran.
The wider conflict in the region began with joint US and Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28. Hezbollah opened fire in support of Tehran on March 2, triggering an Israeli offensive that killed more than 2,000 people and forced 1.2 million from their homes, according to Lebanese authorities.
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The presence of Rubio, President Donald Trump’s top diplomat and national security adviser, signaled Washington’s desire to see progress.
Trump urged Israel to reduce attacks in Lebanon, apparently to avoid compromising the US-Iran ceasefire. The conflict in the Middle East has led to the biggest oil supply disruption in history, increasing pressure on Trump to find a solution.
Iran says Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon must be included in any agreement to end the war in the Middle East, complicating Pakistan-mediated talks aimed at avoiding greater economic fallout. Washington reacted, stating that there is no negotiation between the two fronts.
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CRITICAL MOMENT
Speaking at the start of the meeting, Rubio acknowledged that Tuesday’s talks would not resolve “all the complexities” but expressed hope that they would help form a framework for peace.
The Israeli ambassador also expressed hope later, but did not mention a concrete way forward.
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“What gives me hope is the fact that the Lebanese government has made it very clear that it will no longer be occupied by Hezbollah… This is an opportunity. This is the first time in more than three decades that our two countries are sitting together,” Leiter said, adding that there could be further talks in the coming weeks.
Led by President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, the Lebanese government has called for negotiations with Israel despite Hezbollah’s objections, reflecting worsening tensions between the Shiite Muslim group and its opponents.
The Lebanese state has sought to disarm Hezbollah peacefully since the war between the militia and Israel in 2024. Any attempt by Lebanon to disarm it by force risks triggering conflict in a country devastated by civil war between 1975 and 1990. Actions against Hezbollah by a Western-backed government in 2008 sparked a brief civil war.
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The current government banned Hezbollah’s armed wing after it opened fire on Israel last month.
Lebanese officials said Moawad only has the authority to discuss a ceasefire at Tuesday’s meeting, while Israeli government spokeswoman Shosh Bedrosian said Israel will not discuss a ceasefire, in a sign of how divergent the two sides are.
POSSIBLE CONVERSATIONS
In previous statements, Rubio has already stated that these conversations would be a process and not an isolated event. Leiter said there may be more conversations soon, but none of the participants mentioned a specific date and location.
“There have been some proposals, some recommendations. Of course we will take those recommendations to our governments… and we will come back in the coming weeks, we will continue to meet. We will probably continue the conversations in Washington,” Leiter said.
Rubio coordinated Tuesday’s negotiations amid questions about his absence from talks with Iran. Trump sent Vice President JD Vance to Islamabad over the weekend to lead the North American negotiations.
State Department adviser Michael Needham, US ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz and US ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa, a personal friend of Trump, also participated in the talks on Tuesday.
