Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors held rare direct talks in Washington on Tuesday, a tentative step towards broader negotiations to end the conflict in Lebanon, which has complicated the Trump administration’s fragile ceasefire with Iran.
Yechiel Leiter, Israel’s envoy to the United States, met his Lebanese counterpart, Nada Mahadeh, at the State Department on Tuesday morning in talks mediated by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Rubio sought to temper expectations of Tuesday’s negotiations, noting in brief remarks that complexities would not be resolved in the coming hours and that the talks were “a process, not an event”.
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“But we can begin to move forward to create a framework where something can happen. Something very positive, something very permanent, so that the people of Lebanon can have the kind of future they deserve and so that the people of Israel can live without fear by rocket attacks from the terrorist proxy of Iran,” he said.
“This will take time but we believe it’s worth this endeavour, and it’s a historic gathering that we hope to build on. The hope today is that we can outline a framework upon which a permanent and lasting peace can be developed.”
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Although a resolution to the Lebanon crisis was not expected, the talks carried historic significance as the two countries have no formal diplomatic relations and their officials have rarely met face-to-face.
