US‑hosted Israel‑Lebanon talks
Israel and Lebanon held rare direct talks in the United States—the first since 1993—aimed at managing border spillovers from the Iran war. (aljazeera.com) Hezbollah rejected a proposed buffer zone and reportedly fired barrages of rockets at Israel after rejecting the plan. (indiatoday.in) A Reuters poll found nearly two‑thirds of Israelis oppose a ceasefire with Iran, leaving public backing for pauses divided. (reuters.com)
Lebanon and Israel met in Washington on Tuesday for their first direct diplomatic talks since 1993, with the United States trying to contain the Lebanon front of the wider regional war. (apnews.com) The meeting was set for 11 a.m. Eastern Time at the State Department, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio joining Israeli Ambassador Yechiel Leiter and Lebanese Ambassador Nada Hamadeh Moawad. (aljazeera.com) Washington said the talks were “open, direct, high-level,” while an Israeli official described them as preparatory and focused on a framework for later negotiations. (apnews.com) Lebanon entered the talks seeking a ceasefire, while Israel said its goal was Hezbollah’s disarmament and longer-term security on its northern border. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Monday he hoped for “an agreement” on a ceasefire that could open direct negotiations. (aljazeera.com) (rfi.fr) The timing is tied to a split war map. A two-week United States-Iran ceasefire halted U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, but it did not stop fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. (usnews.com) Hezbollah rejected the Washington track before the meeting began. Naim Qassem called the talks “futile,” urged Beirut to pull out, and said the group would not abide by any deal produced there. (aljazeera.com) (rfi.fr) The border war has already moved far beyond routine cross-border fire. Al Jazeera reported at least 2,089 people killed in Lebanon and more than 1.2 million displaced, while Israeli officials say Hezbollah has kept firing rockets at towns in northern Israel. (aljazeera.com) (usnews.com) Domestic politics in Israel also narrow the room for compromise. A Reuters poll published April 13 found nearly two-thirds of Israelis opposed the Iran ceasefire, and 61 percent said any truce should not extend to fighting with Hezbollah in Lebanon. (usnews.com) That leaves the Washington meeting trying to do two things at once: stop a live border war and define whether Lebanon’s state or Hezbollah will set the terms on the ground. Tuesday’s session was the first direct test of that question in more than three decades. (rfi.fr) (apnews.com)
