Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement Thursday saying he had ordered his cabinet to open direct talks with the Lebanese government while Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said that proposals to include Lebanon in a regional ceasefire were gaining traction among international partners.
The statements follow a general confusion regarding Lebanon’s status in the regional ceasefire struck between Iran and the United States late Tuesday night. Pakistani mediators and Iranian officials including President Masoud Pezeshkian and Parliment Speaker Mohammad Ghalibaf have stated that Lebanon is covered in the ten-point proposal which American officials accepted as a “working framework” for negotiations.
Israeli and American officials have consistently stated that Lebanon is a seperate theater in the fighting, and that the 10 point proposal published by Iranian officials is not the same document as the one agreed to by President Trump.
On April 8, the IDF launched wide ranging strikes on Hezbollah targets across Lebanon in what spokespeople described as the start of Operation “Eternal Darkness,” promising to go after Hezbollah militants it said were moving into areas outside their traditional strongholds.
Netanyahu Agrees to Talks
A month after President Joseph Aoun expressed his interest in direct civilian talks aimed at ending the war in Lebanon, and “in light of the repeated appeals from Lebanon to open direct negotiations with Israel,” Netanyahu said on April 9 that he had “instructed the cabinet yesterday to open direct negotiations with Lebanon at the earliest possible time.”
He specified that the negotiations would “focus on the disarmament of Hezbollah from its weapons and the regulation of peace relations between Israel and Lebanon.”
Negotiations are likely to be conducted between Israeli ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter and Lebanese ambassador to the United States Nada Hamadeh Moawad, with U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa, according to The Jerusalem Post and Axios citing seperate Israeli sources.
Axios reported that the talks will take place in Washington D.C., with the Jerusalem Post saying they are expected to begin next week.
Aoun Calls for Peace
An hour before Netanyahu’s statement, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said that “the only solution to the situation in Lebanon is to achieve a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, followed by direct negotiations between them.”
He spoke before a Maronite League delegation, saying that he has continued to pursue direct negotiations and that the proposal was being received “positively” internaitonally. Since March 8, Aoun has repeatedly called for civilian talks on the condition of an initial ceasefire. The current proposal does not appear to include such a condition.
He also echoed the Cabinet’s decision earlier today to ban non-state weapons in the capital saying “I said and I repeat that I will not allow internal strife to occur, and everyone must believe in the state and its legitimate forces, because there is no salvation without it.”
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