US hosts fresh Israel-Lebanon talks in Washington

The US announced that a new round of talks between Israel and Lebanon will take place in Washington from Tuesday to Thursday this week. The announcement came just after Israel and Hezbollah declared the renewal of a ceasefire in Lebanon, where sustained attacks threatened to break a US-Iran memorandum aimed at ending the war.

Iran, which backs Hezbollah in Lebanon, set a key condition that a ceasefire in Lebanon be in place during its ongoing talks with the US.

Israel currently occupies about one-fifth of Lebanese territory and has continued near-daily attacks on southern Lebanon and Beirut since early March, after Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel in retaliation for initial US-Israeli strikes on Tehran on February 28 that killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several senior officials.

More than 4,000 people have died in Israeli attacks in Lebanon, and over 1 million have been displaced as Israeli forces advanced north.

On Monday, Qatari and Pakistani mediators said the US and Iran had reached a new roadmap toward a final agreement following positive progress on the first day of high-level talks in Switzerland.

The 60-day memorandum signed by US President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian last Wednesday was due to take effect Saturday but was postponed because of Israeli attacks on Lebanon.

However, after the memorandum was unveiled, many Israeli officials declared they would not withdraw from Lebanon. Iran insisted it must see signs of implementation of the agreement, including a ceasefire in Lebanon, before entering direct talks.

A new joint statement Monday included the establishment of a conflict resolution group to end Israel’s military campaign in Lebanon, along with a high-level committee and a direct communication channel to support negotiations. US Vice President JD Vance said the US and Iran would set up coordination mechanisms: one to monitor a ceasefire in Lebanon and another to clear mines in the Strait of Hormuz.

Vance said technical talks on other outstanding issues would take place in the coming weeks. He said: “We believe it is possible to have Lebanon’s territorial integrity and sovereignty protected, Israel’s security guaranteed. This requires coordination with the Lebanese armed forces and for Iran to restrain Hezbollah.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi welcomed major progress toward ending the war in Lebanon but warned that the first real test would be the effectiveness of the conflict resolution group.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Monday discussed the conflict resolution mechanism for his country with Vance and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani. The phone call focused on strengthening the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. Hezbollah denounced the upcoming talks, demanding Israel’s full withdrawal from Lebanon first.

Israel has repeatedly stated over the past month that it will not withdraw from Lebanon. Last Monday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz affirmed that troops would remain indefinitely in security zones in Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to occupy southern Lebanon as long as necessary.

Vance, in an interview last Thursday, said to Israel: “My question to them is: What exactly is your proposal? Your country has only 9 million people. You cannot just kill people to solve every national security problem.” Late Monday, Netanyahu again stressed that the Israeli military would operate freely against any threat in southern Lebanon and maintain its deployment as long as it deems necessary.

The US-brokered ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel in November 2024 formally ended hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel but gave Israel the right to conduct operations when it felt threatened, allowing Israel to continue attacks. In March, Hezbollah resumed attacks on northern Israel following the February strike on Tehran. Direct talks in April 2026 were the first meeting between the two countries since 1993. On April 16, Trump announced that Israel and Lebanon had reached a 10-day ceasefire to negotiate a longer-term peace deal, but Israel continued attacks and advances in Lebanon until this week.