Israel and Lebanon hold first direct talks since 1993. What are the results

Lebanon and Israel have held their first diplomatic talks in more than three decades, a rare meeting aimed primarily at ending hostilities between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group.

The BBC writes about this.

The US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who acted as a mediator, called it a “historic opportunity” to end Hezbollah’s influence.

The US statement said the two sides had agreed to begin direct talks, with a time and place to be determined. Israel said it sought to disarm all non-state terrorist groups, referring to Hezbollah. Lebanon called for a ceasefire and an end to the humanitarian crisis.

There are no diplomatic relations between Lebanon and Israel, and the last direct high-level talks took place in 1993.

More than 2 000 people have been killed since Israel began its military operations in Lebanon on March 2, just days after the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran. As the two sides met in Washington on Tuesday, Hezbollah claimed at least 24 attacks on Israel and Israeli troops in Lebanon. For much of the day, drone and rocket alarms rang out in communities across northern Israel.

Israel says the goal of its operation in Lebanon is to disarm and eliminate the group, which it also fought in 2023 and 2024 during the Gaza War.

The US State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said after the talks that Israel and Lebanon agreed to work to reduce Hezbollahʼs influence. And the US "reaffirmed its support for Israelʼs right to self-defense" against Hezbollah attacks.

In a statement, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun expressed hope that the talks “will be the beginning of the end of the suffering of the Lebanese people in general and the people of the south in particular”. However, the Lebanese government’s ability to confront Hezbollah is limited. Ahead of the talks, a senior Hezbollah official told the AP that it would not abide by any agreements reached in Washington.

"We are not obligated to implement what they agreed to," said Wafik Safa, a member of Hezbollahʼs political council.

• On the night of April 8, the US President Donald Trump reported that he had agreed to a two-week ceasefire in Iran. But within hours, ceasefire violations were recorded in several places in the Middle East conflict zone.
• At the same time, Israel carried out the largest attack on Lebanon since the beginning of the new war: in 10 minutes it attacked more than 100 facilities 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.

For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine, please follow us on X.