Lebanon and Israel held their first direct diplomatic talks in decades on Tuesday in Washington, ending a two-hour session marked by competing positions over how any path to an end to fighting should be structured. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called it a “historic opportunity,” while the State Department said that—whatever the outcome—the groundwork for a ceasefire would have to be handled through the two governments and the United States.
A State Department statement after the session said the parties held “productive discussions on steps toward launching direct negotiations between Israel and Lebanon.” The statement also laid out what it called a key condition: “The United States affirmed that any agreement to cease hostilities must be reached between the two governments, brokered by the United States, and not through any separate track.”
Hezbollah opposed the direct talks and was not represented, and the first day’s diplomacy coincided with an escalation in violence on the ground. As the meeting began, incoming fire triggered nonstop drone and rocket alert sirens in Israeli communities near the Lebanese border. Hezbollah, in its account of events so far on Tuesday, claimed 24 attacks on northern Israel and on Israeli troops in southern Lebanon.
Israeli officials characterized the meeting as an opening for political and security change in Lebanon. Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S., Yechiel Leiter, said he saw what he described as a “convergence of opinion” about removing Hezbollah’s influence from Lebanon and hailed a “wonderful exchange.” He told reporters that the Lebanese government made clear it “will no longer be occupied by Hezbollah,” and that “Iran has been weakened” and “Hezbollah is dramatically weakened,” which he framed as “an opportunity.”
Lebanon’s diplomatic messaging emphasized sovereignty and humanitarian needs rather than Hezbollah’s removal. Lebanese Ambassador to the U.S. Nada Hamadeh Moawad said her delegation “reaffirmed the urgent need” for an end to the Israel-Hezbollah conflict, “underscoring the principles of territorial integrity and full state sovereignty.” She also called for a ceasefire, the return of displaced people to their homes, and “concrete measures to address and alleviate the severe humanitarian crisis” resulting from the war.
Rubio’s remarks reflected the distance between diplomatic signaling and immediate results. Speaking at the start of the session, he said the Trump administration was “very happy” to facilitate, but he cautioned that “we understand we’re working against decades of history and complexities” that will not be quickly resolved. He said the sides could “begin to move forward with a framework where something can happen — something very positive, something very permanent,” aimed at giving Lebanon a future “so that the people of Lebanon can have the kind of future they deserve,” and allowing Israel’s people to live “without fear.”
The talks came amid a broader conflict that has significantly increased the humanitarian toll inside Lebanon. The Health Ministry said at least 2,124 people have been killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon, including hundreds of women and children, and more than 1 million people are displaced. The AP reported that the deadliest day of the war occurred last week, when Israel launched 100 airstrikes across Lebanon in 10 minutes, including in the heart of the capital, killing over 350 people.
AP said the war was sparked by Hezbollah firing rockets into northern Israel on March 2, days after the United States and Israel attacked Iran, Hezbollah’s key ally and patron. Israel has invaded southern Lebanon and some Israeli officials have said the goal is to create a “security zone” from the border to the Litani River, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) north. Israel’s defense minister has said hundreds of thousands uprooted from southern Lebanon will not be allowed to return until the area is demilitarized, and that Israel believes its northern communities are safe.
Hezbollah’s rejection of any agreement reached through the talks’ framework has been a central complicating factor. Wafiq Safa, a high-ranking member of the militant group’s political council, told The Associated Press that Hezbollah would not abide by any agreements made during the talks, and Lebanon’s top political authorities have argued the country must represent itself in the negotiating process.
The meeting also marked a milestone for formal diplomacy between two states that have had no direct diplomatic relations. AP reported the talks were the first between Israel and Lebanon since 1993, with both countries previously relying on indirect communication often brokered by the United States or by UNIFIL, the United Nations peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon. Lebanon’s top political authorities, critical of Hezbollah’s decision to join the war after March 2, proposed direct talks quickly as a bid to stop escalation, while Hezbollah and other critics said Lebanon lacked leverage and should align with Iran’s position.
In related diplomatic statements, Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun said Monday that “Israel’s destruction of Lebanese territories is not the solution, nor will it yield any results,” adding that “Diplomatic solutions have consistently proven to be the most effective means of resolving armed conflicts globally.” Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on Tuesday rejected disputes with Lebanon and said, “The problem is Hezbollah,” while AP reported that Hezbollah has sought a return to a 2024 arrangement in which talks were conducted indirectly with the U.S., France and UNIFIL as mediators.
Hezbollah’s absence from Tuesday’s direct talks, and its stated refusal to follow any agreements reached there, left the meeting’s immediate prospects uncertain even as Rubio and U.S. officials framed it as a first step. For now, the State Department’s guidance makes the United States’ role—and the insistence on a single negotiating track between governments—central to how any ceasefire discussion would proceed.