Netanyahu: Direct negotiations with Lebanon to take place ‘as soon as possible’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly authorized direct negotiations with Lebanon to begin “as soon as possible,” even as recent Israeli strikes in the region have appeared to threaten a two-week ceasefire agreement brokered between the United States and Iran.

“In light of Lebanon’s repeated requests to ​open direct negotiations with Israel, I instructed ​the cabinet yesterday to start direct negotiations with ⁠Lebanon as soon as possible,” Netanyahu said in a ​statement on Thursday. “The negotiations will focus on disarming Hezbollah and establishing ​peaceful relations between Israel and Lebanon.”

An hour before Netanyahu’s announcement, ​Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said that “the only solution to ​the situation in Lebanon is to achieve a ceasefire between Israel ‌and ⁠Lebanon, followed by direct negotiations between them.”

Israel has been conducting strikes on Lebanon since early March, in an effort to wipe out Hezbollah, an Iran-backed Islamist group with a long history of violent and murderous acts, including rocket attacks, raids, bombings, etc.

 

Given that the group receives funding from Iran, Israel’s attacks fell under the umbrella of “Operation Roaring Lion,” Israel’s name for their joint military effort with the United States, otherwise known as Operation Epic Fury.

In 2023, Hezbollah initiated daily cross-border attacks against Israel in a show of solidarity with the fellow terrorist group Hamas. By late 2024, these hostilities escalated into a large-scale military conflict, which continued until the United States and international partners successfully brokered a ceasefire agreement in early 2026.

Following the tentative two-week ceasefire agreement reached between the United States and Iran on Tuesday evening, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced the deal. Sharif asserted that its terms extended to Lebanon and “everywhere else” and were effective immediately.

 

 

However, the United States and Israel have explicitly stated that the ceasefire does not cover Lebanon or operations against Hezbollah.

Despite ongoing diplomatic efforts, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) conducted extensive strikes across Lebanon on Wednesday. These operations constituted the largest coordinated strike on Hezbollah terrorist targets since the start of Operation Roaring Lion, hitting approximately 100 sites including command centers and missile infrastructure.

The continued attacks on Hezbollah headquarters across Lebanon have prompted ongoing concerns over the state of the ceasefire, though Netanyahu has reiterated that Lebanon was not included in the deal.

Meanwhile, in the U.S., President Trump has since emphasized that the two-week ceasefire is conditional and warned of massive retaliation if Iran does not fully comply.

“All U.S. Ships, Aircraft, and Military Personnel, with additional Ammunition, Weaponry, and anything else that is appropriate and necessary for the lethal prosecution and destruction of an already substantially degraded Enemy, will remain in place in, and around, Iran, until such time as the REAL AGREEMENT reached is fully complied with,” Trump posted on Truth Social.

 

On Thursday, President Trump also separately warned Iran not to charge tolls or fees to tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, saying they “better not be and, if they are, they better stop now.” He further expressed frustration that Iran is “doing a very poor job” managing traffic in the strait.

“Iran is doing a very poor job, dishonorable some would say, of allowing Oil to go through the Strait of Hormuz. That is not the agreement we have!” he added.