Israel said Wednesday that its first direct discussions with Lebanon in more than four decades were held in a “positive atmosphere,” raising cautious hopes for progress between the two countries, which remain technically at war.
The talks took place during a meeting of the ceasefire monitoring mechanism in southern Lebanon © Mena Today
Israel said Wednesday that its first direct discussions with Lebanon in more than four decades were held in a “positive atmosphere,” raising cautious hopes for progress between the two countries, which remain technically at war.
According to a statement from the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the meeting “was conducted in a positive atmosphere, and it was agreed to develop ideas to promote potential economic cooperation between Israel and Lebanon.”
The statement also reiterated that the disarmament of Hezbollah remains “essential” from Israel’s perspective.
The talks took place during a meeting of the ceasefire monitoring mechanism in southern Lebanon, bringing together civilian officials from both sides. It marked the first direct encounter between Lebanese and Israeli representatives in over 40 years.
While no concrete agreements were announced, the fact that both countries described the meeting as constructive was widely noted as a rare diplomatic opening in a context long dominated by tension, conflict, and proxy confrontations.
Speaking to the crowd gathered in St. Peter's Square following his traditional Sunday prayer, Pope Leo XIV said he felt "closer than ever" to the Lebanese people "in these days of pain, fear and indestructible hope in God."
Israel said on Saturday it had reprimanded Spain's most senior diplomat in Tel Aviv over the blowing up of a giant effigy of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a Spanish town this week.
Syria's Interior Ministry announced Saturday that its counter-terrorism directorate, in cooperation with the internal security command around Damascus, had thwarted a bomb plot targeting a religious figure near a Maronite church in the Bab Touma district of the capital, and has linked the cell to Hezbollah.
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