Officials from Israel and Lebanon hold first direct talks in decades in Naqoura

Netanyahu’s office describes ‘attempt to create a basis for a relationship and economic cooperation’; Lebanese PM disputes this, insisting no economic ties on the table

Lebanese and Israeli civilian representatives held their first direct talks in decades Wednesday, part of a year-old ceasefire monitoring mechanism in the war with Hezbollah.

The meeting was held at the UN peacekeeping force’s headquarters in Naqoura in Lebanon, near the border with Israel.

Israel was represented by the National Security Council Deputy Director for Foreign Policy Uri Resnick. Morgan Ortagus, the US special representative for Lebanon, headed the US delegation, while Lebanon was represented by former ambassador to the US Simon Karam.

Earlier on Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed that the premier had instructed Gil Reich, acting head of the National Security Council, to send a representative to Lebanon to meet with government and economic officials.

The sides gave different accounts of the content of the meeting. Ahead of the sit-down, the Prime Minister’s Office called it “an initial attempt to create a basis for a relationship and economic cooperation between Israel and Lebanon.”

However, Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam contradicted this, stressing that his country was “far from” diplomatic normalization or economic relations with Israel.

Salam said Lebanon was still committed to the 2002 Arab peace plan that conditions normalization of diplomatic relations with Israel on the creation of a Palestinian state — a prospect to which Netanyahu’s government has been adamantly opposed. “Economic relations would be part of such normalization, so then obviously anyone following the news would know that we are not there at all,” Salam said.

But in a statement after the meeting concluded, Netanyahu’s office once again insisted that at the meeting, conducted “in a positive atmosphere,” the sides “agreed that ideas would be developed to promote possible economic cooperation between Israel and Lebanon.”

Lebanon had said earlier that it had agreed to send its own civilian representative — rather than a military figure — following a request to do so by the US, and Netanyahu was reportedly pressured by Washington to do so as well.

“Israel emphasized that the disarmament of Hezbollah is mandatory, regardless of progress in economic cooperation,” according to the Israeli readout of the meeting.

The sides agreed to continue the dialogue, Israel said.

“President Joseph Aoun has decided to appoint former ambassador Simon Karam to lead the Lebanese delegation,” presidency spokeswoman Najat Charafeddine said. The decision followed a US request and “after being informed that Israel agreed to include a non-military member in its delegation,” she added.

The meeting was part of the “Cessation of Hostilities Implementation Mechanism” — made up of US, UNIFIL, Israeli, French, and Lebanese officials — which is aimed at pushing forward with the ceasefire reached just over a year ago with Israel.

Jerusalem and Beirut last held indirect talks in Naqoura to finalize a maritime boundary in 2022 — an agreement brokered by the US.

Wednesday’s meeting came as Israeli and US officials have warned that the IDF could embark on a major operation if the Lebanese government does not make progress in disarming the Hezbollah terror group.

Tensions in Lebanon have ratcheted up in recent weeks. The IDF accuses Hezbollah of violating the November 2024 ceasefire and has intensified its strikes against terror group targets, including killing its chief of staff in a rare strike in Beirut last month.

Under the terms of the ceasefire, Hezbollah was required to vacate southern Lebanon, while Israel was given 60 days to do so. The IDF later withdrew from all but five posts along the border with Lebanon, citing the incomplete dismantling of Hezbollah’s infrastructure in the country’s south.

In addition to hundreds of airstrikes amid the ceasefire, the military said, ground troops have conducted over 1,200 raids and other small operations in southern Lebanon, mostly in areas surrounding the five “strategic” border posts, to prevent Hezbollah from restoring its capabilities.

The operations included demolishing terror infrastructure, thwarting Hezbollah intelligence collection efforts, and other activities to damage the terror group’s capabilities, the army said. During the raids, troops located numerous weapons, rocket-launching sites, and other buildings used by Hezbollah, the army added.

Israel invaded Lebanon in September 2024 in a bid to secure the return home of some 60,000 residents displaced by Hezbollah’s near-daily attacks on northern Israel starting October 8, 2023 — a day after fellow Iran-backed group Hamas invaded southern Israel, sparking the war in Gaza.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.