Lebanese and Israeli envoys meet – but with very different aims

Israeli and Lebanese envoys meet in Washington on Tuesday, a diplomatic milestone overshadowed by conflicting agendas as Israel – which continues to strike Hezbollah targets in Lebanon – rules out discussion of a ceasefire and demands Beirut disarm the group.

The meeting comes at a critical juncture in the crisis in the Middle East, a week into a fragile ceasefire between the United States, Israel and Iran. The parallel conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon has been a complicating factor in Pakistan's mediation to end the wider conflict.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was set to attend the meeting between Israel's US ambassador Yechiel Leiter and his Lebanese counterpart Nada Hamadeh Moawad at 11am local time (1500 GMT), a State Department official said.

It marks a rare encounter between representatives of governments that have remained technically in a state of war since Israel was established in 1948.

Lebanon seeks ceasefire

The Lebanese government led by President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has called for negotiations with Israel despite objections from Hezbollah, reflecting worsening tensions between the Shi'ite Muslim group and its opponents.

Hezbollah opened fire in support of Tehran on March 2, sparking an Israeli offensive that has killed more than 2,000 people and forced 1.2 million from their homes, according to Lebanese authorities.

Lebanese officials have said Moawad only has authority to discuss a ceasefire – something which Israeli government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian said  his country would not discuss.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar told reporters in Jerusalem that the talks would focus on the disarmament of Hezbollah, which he said must take place before Israel and Lebanon could sign any peace agreement and normalize relations. 

He said Hezbollah was a problem for Israel's security and Lebanon's sovereignty "and this problem needs to be addressed in order to move to a different phase". 

"We want to reach peace and normalization with the state of Lebanon," he said.

The Lebanese state has been seeking to disarm Hezbollah peacefully since a war between the militia and Israel in 2024. Any move by Lebanon to disarm it by force risks igniting conflict in a country shattered by civil war from 1975 to 1990. Moves against Hezbollah by a Western-backed government in 2008 prompted a short civil war.

The current government banned Hezbollah's military wing after it opened fire on Israel last month.

Hundreds killed 

Israel and ‌the US have ⁠said the campaign against Hezbollah was not part of the Iran-US ceasefire, though Pakistan's prime minister had said the truce would include Lebanon, as Iran had demanded.

While Israel has pressed attacks in Lebanon, it has launched no airstrikes in Beirut since last Wednesday, when it pounded the capital during a 10-minute barrage that killed hundreds of people across Lebanon.

The following day, US President Donald Trump, in an interview with NBC News, said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had told him he would "low-key it" in Lebanon.

A US State Department official said that Israel was at war with Hezbollah, not Lebanon, and so there was no reason they should not talk, describing the talks as direct, high-level and the first of their kind since 1993.

The conversation would "scope the ongoing dialogue about how to ensure the long-term security of Israel's northern border and to support the Government of Lebanon's determination to reclaim full sovereignty over its territory and political life".

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem on Monday called on the government to cancel the meeting, saying Hezbollah would continue to confront Israeli attacks on Lebanon.

In Lebanon, the dead include 252 women and 166 children, the health ministry says. Sources familiar with the matter said on March 27 that more than 400 Hezbollah fighters have been killed. Since March 2, 13 Israeli soldiers have been killed in Lebanon, while Hezbollah attacks have killed two Israeli civilians.

Italy suspends defense cooperation deal with Israel

Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Tuesday her government had suspended a defense cooperation deal with Israel, reflecting frayed ties between previously close allies as the conflicts in the Middle East continue.

Meloni's right-wing government has been one of Israel's closest friends in Europe, but in recent weeks it has criticized its attacks on Lebanon.

Israel also fired warning shots last week at Italian troops serving in Lebanon under a UN mandate, causing damage to a vehicle.

"In light of the current situation, the government has decided to suspend the automatic renewal of the defense agreement with Israel," Meloni said during a visit to Verona, northern Italy.

A source close to the matter, who requested anonymity, said Meloni took the decision on Monday with her foreign and defense ministers, Antonio Tajani and Guido Crosetto, as well as Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini.

A spokesperson for Israel's foreign ministry declined to comment.

Meloni's announcement was a surprise in that it marked a shift from a previously cautious stance on Israel. The opposition had asked the government to suspend the agreement.

"We had been calling for this for some time, along with other progressive forces," the leader of the center-left Democratic Party Elly Schlein said, adding Italy should also support the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement.

Italy's memorandum with Israel, signed in 2003 by the government of then Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, entered into force in 2006 and is subject to automatic renewals every five years unless one of the parties withdraws.

It foresees Israeli-Italian cooperation to "increase their respective defense capabilities" and spans fields including procurement, training and the "import, export and transit of defense and military equipment".

As diplomatic tensions have risen, Rome last week summoned the Israeli ambassador to protest over the incident involving Italian troops in Lebanon – then on Monday the Israeli government summoned the Italian ambassador "to discuss the situation in Lebanon".