Cautious optimism in Lebanon as direct talks with Israel progress
Key takeaways
- Lebanese officials are hoping that two-day ambassador-level negotiations in the US will yield a new ceasefire deal.
- US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who attended the first Israel-Lebanon meetings in Washington in April, was with US President Donald Trump on a visit to China and did not attend Thursday’s session.
- On the Israeli side, Deputy National Security Adviser Yossi Draznin was set to attend.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
Lebanese officials are hoping that two-day ambassador-level negotiations in the US will yield a new ceasefire deal.
xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogle Add Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Destroyed buildings are pictured in the village of Bint Jbeil in southern Lebanon as seen from across the border in the Upper Galilee region of northern Israel [File: AFP]By Al Jazeera Staff and APPublished On 14 May 202614 May 2026A third round of direct talks between Israel and Lebanon has kicked off in Washington, DC, days before the expiration of a “ceasefire” that hardly halted Israeli attacks and Hezbollah’s response to them.
The talks, which began on Thursday, represent a step towards more serious negotiations, with higher-level envoys from Lebanon and Israel taking part after the initial preparatory sessions were headed by the ambassadors of the two countries to Washington.