Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Thursday that he instructed his cabinet to begin direct negotiations with Lebanon following repeated requests from Beirut, with talks focusing on Hezbollah disarmament and establishing peaceful bilateral relations. The statement marks a significant shift after intensive U.S. pressure to de-escalate parallel military operations threatening the broader Iran ceasefire.
Netanyahu’s announcement came after phone calls Wednesday with President Trump and White House envoy Steve Witkoff. Senior U.S. officials confirmed Witkoff explicitly asked the Israeli leader to “calm down” strikes in Lebanon and open diplomatic channels. The Prime Minister simultaneously welcomed Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam’s call to demilitarize Beirut, signaling potential convergence on security architecture.
The diplomatic breakthrough follows days of contradictory messaging regarding the ceasefire’s geographic scope. While Pakistani mediators and Iranian officials asserted the pause covered Lebanon, Israel and subsequently the White House insisted operations against Hezbollah proceeded independently. Wednesday’s massive Israeli strikes killing over two hundred operatives—Operation Eternal Darkness—had appeared to harden this bifurcation.
Netanyahu’s pivot suggests American leverage successfully extracted concessions despite public Israeli resistance. The timing—one day before U.S.-Iran delegations convene in Islamabad—removes a significant complicating factor from Washington’s negotiating position. Tehran had explicitly threatened to abandon the ceasefire if Lebanon attacks continued.
The proposed agenda addresses core Israeli security demands: Hezbollah’s military dismantlement and normalized state-to-state relations. Whether Lebanon’s fractured political system can deliver disarmament of its most powerful armed faction remains uncertain. The talks’ initiation nevertheless represents first formal bilateral engagement on these issues since the 2006 war.
