Israel to Hold Direct Talks with Lebanon in Washington as Airstrikes Continue

Israel has agreed to open direct negotiations with Lebanon at the U.S. State Department in Washington as soon as next week, officials said — a rare face-to-face engagement between two countries technically at war — even as Israeli strikes inside Lebanon continue.

The move follows days of U.S. pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to temper Israeli operations in Lebanon and comes shortly after Washington and Tehran announced a separate, two-week pause in direct hostilities. Israeli officials, however, say that pause does not extend to Lebanon and that operations against the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah will continue.

“In light of Lebanon's repeated requests to open direct negotiations with Israel, I instructed yesterday to begin direct negotiations with Lebanon as soon as possible,” Netanyahu said in an announcement Thursday. He said the talks “will focus on disarming Hezbollah and establishing peaceful relations between Israel and Lebanon.”

Who will attend

U.S. and Israeli officials say the opening session is being planned at the State Department in Washington. U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa is expected to lead the American side; Israel will be represented by its ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter. Axios reported that Lebanon’s ambassador in Washington, Nada Hamadeh Moawad, is expected to attend, though Lebanese authorities have not publicly confirmed their delegation.

Why the talks are unusual

Israel and Lebanon have had no formal diplomatic relations since 1948, and previous contacts have usually been indirect or limited to technical meetings organized by the United Nations in the border town of Naqoura. Meeting face to face at the State Department would mark a high-profile departure from that pattern and an expanded role for Washington as mediator.

The diplomatic push comes amid one of the deadliest phases of fighting on Israel’s northern front since the wider regional conflict escalated. In the 24 to 48 hours before Mr. Netanyahu’s announcement, Israeli strikes struck multiple areas across Lebanon, including Beirut, producing widely reported death tolls in the hundreds and driving new waves of displacement.

U.S. aims and Israeli limits

For Washington, the priority is keeping the Lebanon front from derailing the fragile two-week understanding with Tehran and preventing a wider regional conflagration. U.S. officials have urged Israel to scale back some operations in Lebanon and have encouraged Netanyahu to engage with a Lebanese proposal — backed by France — to open direct talks as a path to ending the fighting on Lebanese soil.

Israeli leaders have been careful to draw a distinction. Netanyahu’s office said the two-week pause in U.S.–Iran hostilities “does not include Lebanon.” An Israeli official told Axios bluntly: “No ceasefire in Lebanon. The negotiations with the Lebanese government will begin in the coming days.” The Israeli government argues that continuing pressure on Hezbollah is necessary to protect towns and cities along Israel’s northern border from rocket fire.

What’s on the agenda — and the obstacles

Israel has said it wants the talks to focus on disarming Hezbollah and establishing peaceful relations. Disarming Hezbollah is a longstanding Israeli objective and was embedded in U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 after the 2006 war, but it has never been fully implemented. Hezbollah has significantly expanded its arsenal since 2006 and remains a powerful political and military force within Lebanon.

Lebanese leaders, by contrast, have stressed ending bombardment, preventing a prolonged Israeli presence in the south and securing guarantees along the border. Beirut insists it alone represents the Lebanese state and has resisted outside parties negotiating on its behalf. Any Lebanese government effort to alter Hezbollah’s posture will risk intense domestic pushback.

Humanitarian stakes

Humanitarian concerns add urgency. The recent surge in strikes has produced hundreds of deaths and injuries and forced more people to flee their homes, according to Lebanese officials and international organizations. Aid agencies warn that continued fighting during the U.S.–Iran pause could overwhelm hospitals and deepen a humanitarian crisis in a country already suffering severe economic collapse.

Logistics and uncertainty

The State Department has not released a detailed agenda or schedule for the meetings, and officials in Washington, Jerusalem and Beirut caution that plans could shift as events on the ground evolve. The presence of Israel and Lebanon in the same building for direct talks, even at a preliminary level, nevertheless marks a significant diplomatic shift.

What to watch next

Key questions in the coming days will include whether Lebanon formally confirms its delegation, how broadly negotiators are willing to discuss security arrangements and whether the talks produce any measurable reduction in violence on the ground. Observers will also be watching whether Israel’s decision to negotiate while continuing operations against Hezbollah helps de-escalate the border or merely institutionalizes parallel tracks of diplomacy and warfare.

Whether the Washington talks lead to lasting de‑escalation or unfold alongside continued airstrikes will be one of the central tests in the days ahead. For civilians under bombardment in Beirut and across southern Lebanon, the immediate concern is whether the diplomatic timeline will bring tangible relief before the two-week pause in other regional hostilities expires.