Representatives of Israel and Lebanon hold talks in Washington, the first in over 30 years

The first direct talks between representatives of Israel and Lebanon in over 30 years are being held in Washington on April 14. The US is acting as a mediator.

The meeting was reported by Axios journalist Barak Ravid, who posted a photo of the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio standing next to Israeli and Lebanese diplomats.

Israel reported on April 9 that it would begin talks with Lebanon. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said they would focus on disarming the pro-Iranian group Hezbollah and establishing peaceful relations between Israel and Lebanon. Hezbollah has called on Lebanon to abandon the talks, calling them pointless.

The countries have been formally at war since the formation of Israel in 1948, Reuters notes. These talks were the first direct ones since 1993.

Rubio said that the purpose of the meeting between representatives of Israel and Lebanon at the US State Department building was to determine the basic principles of a peace agreement between the two countries.

"Today, we hope that we will be able to outline a framework on which a permanent, lasting peace can be built, so that the people of Israel can live in peace, and the people of Lebanon can live not only in peace, but also in the prosperity and security that they deserve," Rubio said before the talks began, according to The Times of Israel.

He also called for restraint in high expectations of the meeting, adding: “This is a process, not an event. This is more than just one day. It will take time, but we believe that this effort is worth it, and this is truly a historic meeting. [...] This is about much more than just a ceasefire. This is about ending Hezbollah’s 30-year influence for good.”

The US President Donald Trump, in a comment to DW journalist Misha Komadovsky, said that he believes in the success of these negotiations. He emphasized that the main obstacle remains the pro-Iranian Lebanese group Hezbollah, which must be eliminated.

As The Times of Israel notes, amid the talks, Hezbollah launched new rocket attacks on northern Israel. The Israel Defense Forces warned that the group could increase the intensity of its attacks by Tuesday evening.

• On the night of April 8, the US President Donald Trump announced that he had agreed to a two-week ceasefire in Iran. But within hours, ceasefire violations were recorded in several places in the conflict zone in the Middle East.
• At the same time, Israel carried out its largest attack on Lebanon since the start of the new war: in 10 minutes it attacked more than 100 sites of the pro-Iranian Hezbollah — more than 350 people were killed.
• The US authorities stated that the ceasefire did not apply to Lebanon. And Israel emphasized that it was not at war with Lebanon, but with the Hezbollah group on the territory of the country.

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