Israel and Lebanon’s ambassadors to the United States are expected to meet in Washington next week for direct talks, according to three Lebanese officials, one Israeli official and another person familiar with the matter.
The initial round of talks will be largely preparatory, meaning a final settlement to end the war in Lebanon is not expected imminently, according to one of the Lebanese officials and the person briefed on the talks, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomacy.
With U.S. and Iranian officials set to meet for peace talks in Pakistan on Saturday, the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors were also scheduled to speak by phone on Friday in the presence of U.S. officials, the Israeli official and one of the Lebanese officials said.
Whether Israel’s conflict with Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group in Lebanon, is included in the Iran cease-fire is one of the major disputes rattling the truce.
Israel has intensified its attacks in Lebanon since that deal was reached. Iranian officials have warned that negotiations in Pakistan would not begin without a halt in the fighting there — raising the risk that President Trump’s diplomatic push with Tehran could collapse.
Lebanon and Israel do not maintain diplomatic relations, and their officials have met only intermittently in the past half-century, making the meeting on U.S. soil historic. But it does not amount to high-level peace talks between government ministers. And the talks face enormous hurdles from the offset, in part because the Lebanese government has no direct control over Hezbollah, which has long signaled opposition to direct talks with Israel and resisted disarming.
Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, and his Lebanese counterpart, Nada Hamadeh Moawad, will lead their countries’ delegations, according to the three Lebanese officials, the Israeli official and the other person familiar with the talks. The U.S. ambassador to Lebanon, Michel Issa, will also be present, said one Lebanese official and the person familiar with the matter.
Before the parallel talks in Pakistan, a phone call including Mr. Leiter, Ms. Hamadeh Moawad, Mr. Issa, and Mike Needham, a senior State Department official, was also scheduled for Friday.
The diplomatic movements follow a devastating wave of Israeli airstrikes on Wednesday that killed more than 300 people in Beirut and elsewhere in Lebanon, including the south, where Israeli forces have invaded amid the latest war with Hezbollah. The conflict began after the militant group fired rockets into Israel last month in solidarity with Tehran.
Joseph Aoun, the Lebanese president, called Wednesday’s attack “a new massacre” that added to Israel’s “dark record,” while Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz, claimed scores of those killed were militants.
The State Department confirmed on Thursday that it would host a meeting next week with representatives of Israel and Lebanon to discuss cease-fire negotiations, but did not provide details. That followed a statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel that he had ordered his government to start direct talks with Lebanon focused on disarming Hezbollah and establishing peaceful relations.
Mr. Netanyahu said, however, that Israel would continue its attacks against the group.
Michael Crowley and Dayana Iwaza contributed reporting.
Euan Ward is a Times reporter covering Lebanon and Syria. He is based in Beirut.
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