Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Thursday that Israel will open direct negotiations with Lebanon focused on disarming Hezbollah and establishing peaceful relations, even as Israeli forces remain inside Lebanese territory and both sides exchanged fire.
"The negotiations will focus on disarming Hezbollah and establishing peaceful relations between Israel and Lebanon," the prime minister said in a statement released by his office. He instructed his cabinet to begin the talks "as soon as possible," citing the active warfront with Hezbollah and the upcoming Iran-US peace discussions in Islamabad.
The announcement came minutes before Hezbollah launched a fresh barrage of rockets toward northern Israel, triggering sirens across the Galilee. There were no immediate reports of casualties from the rocket fire.
Who Will Negotiate and When
Israeli sources told The Jerusalem Post and Haaretz that the talks are expected to begin next week in Washington. Israel will be represented by its ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter. Lebanon will be represented by its ambassador to the United States, Nada Hamadeh Moawad.
US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa is expected to mediate, the sources said.
Despite the diplomatic opening, Israeli officials stressed there is no ceasefire. The Israel Defense Forces will stay on the ground in southern Lebanon "in the immediate future to act against any threat from Hezbollah," one official said. Israel has agreed to scale back the intensity of strikes to align with diplomatic efforts, but not to halt them entirely.
Lebanon has sought direct talks for months, according to Lebanese and Israeli sources. Requests were relayed through both Washington and Paris.
The administration of US President Donald Trump initially told Beirut it must "first act seriously to disarm Hezbollah, and then we'll talk with Israel," an Israeli source said. France pushed more actively for dialogue, but Israel previously rebuffed the effort, accusing the Lebanese government of failing to restrain Hezbollah attacks.
On Wednesday, Trump spoke by phone with Netanyahu and asked him to reduce strikes in Lebanon, NBC News reported Thursday, citing a senior administration official. The request was framed as necessary to protect the success of the parallel negotiations with Iran.
A senior Lebanese official told Reuters that Beirut is pushing for a temporary truce to allow the talks to proceed. The official described the planned framework as "separate tracks but the same model" as the US-Iran talks brokered by Pakistan, with international guarantees, a pause in hostilities, and careful sequencing. No date or location has been finalized, and Lebanon wants the United States to serve as guarantor.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam earlier Thursday ordered the Lebanese army and security forces to expand their control in the Beirut area, insisting that "only legitimate forces" be allowed to carry weapons. Netanyahu said he "respects" Salam's call to disarm Beirut.
Heaviest Strikes Since 1982
The diplomatic move follows Israel's largest wave of strikes on Lebanon since the 1982 Lebanon War. Lebanese health authorities reported at least 203 people killed and more than 1,000 wounded, with numbers expected to rise.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said hours before the announcement that Hezbollah "is desperate for a cease-fire, and even its Iranian patrons are pressuring and threatening, fearing that Israel could crush Hezbollah." Katz described the decision to separate the Lebanese and Iranian fronts as "an important achievement led by the prime minister."
Iranian leaders warned that continued Israeli operations in Lebanon could collapse the planned talks with the United States in Pakistan.
President Masoud Pezeshkian wrote on X that Israel's strikes are a "blatant violation of the initial ceasefire agreement" and that "the continuation of these aggressions will render negotiations meaningless. Our finger remains on the trigger. Iran will never abandon its Lebanese brothers and sisters."
Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said "Lebanon and the entire Resistance Axis, as Iran's allies, form an inseparable part of the ceasefire," and cited Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif as having "publicly and clearly stressed the Lebanon issue."
Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi told Iran's Fars News Agency that Tehran had been on the verge of responding to ceasefire violations overnight but that Pakistan intervened, adding that "the coming hours are critical" and that any regional agreement must include Lebanon.
Israeli officials maintain that operations will continue until the threat to northern communities is removed. On Wednesday evening, Netanyahu vowed Israel would "continue to act with full force to remove the threat to northern residents," a position his office reiterated Thursday even as it confirmed the new diplomatic channel.