Israel’s aim in its new negotiations with Lebanon is to “reach normalisation”, a senior Israeli official told the Times of Israel.
On Tuesday, Jerusalem and the Donald Trump’s administration announced that Israel, Lebanon, France and the US would create working groups to discuss the Israel-Lebanon border, Lebanese detainees in Israel and the presence of IDF soldiers in southern Lebanon.
The two countries, which signed a ceasefire on November 24 after more than a year of fighting, do not recognise each other.
A day after Hamas’ attack on southern Israel on October 7, Hezbollah — Iran’s terrorist proxy group in southern Lebanon — began firing rockets into northern Israel.
The two countries began an exchange of tit-for-tat attacks across the border for months until Israel launched a series of devastating blows against the group’s senior leadership, culminating in the killing of its chief, Hassan Nasrallah, in September 2024, before ultimately launching a ground invasion.
Tuesday’s meeting was military to military, but the next meeting will be between political representatives from the two countries, the official said. “This means official Israeli diplomacy within Lebanon.”
As a gesture of goodwill, Israel released five Lebanese prisoners yesterday. This was so that the country’s new president, Joseph Aoun, could show civilians that he is able to deliver for Lebanon without the need for destructive military conflict, according to the Israeli official.
“I am coming and trying the diplomatic way and I am bringing achievements,” he said, paraphrasing what Israel hopes Aoun is presenting to the Lebanese people.
If Israel and Lebanon reach an agreement on borders — a matter which has long been a source of tension — Hezbollah could be seriously undermined.
The militant group has long-justifed its fighting by citing Israel’s occupation of Lebanon. “If a deal on the border is done, Hezbollah’s alibi will be gone,” Mohanad Hage Ali, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut, told the New York Times. “It will pull the rug out from under them.”
