Ambassadors Meet as Aoun Defies Hezbollah Opposition
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said the planned talks with Israel aimed to end hostilities and the occupation in southern Lebanon, even as Hezbollah and its supporters rejected the negotiations. The discussions will take place Thursday at the State Department in Washington at the ambassadorial level, marking the second round of direct talks between the two countries in decades. The first round occurred on April 14.
Trump's Truce Pauses Extended Conflict
US President Donald Trump announced a 10-day truce after the first round of talks last week, pausing more than six weeks of war between Hezbollah and Israel. The ceasefire remains fragile. New talks between the countries' ambassadors are set for Thursday.
Lebanon's Negotiating Position
Ghassan Salamé, Lebanon's culture minister, frames negotiation with Israel not as a matter of choice but of necessity. He argues the talks represent the only viable path toward stability, dignity, and the basic conditions for the Lebanese people to live and thrive. These conditions, Salamé said, depend on full sovereignty over land, people, and waters, alongside the consistent application of international law.
Lebanese officials claim the Israeli Defense Forces destroyed 39 villages in the south of the country during the conflict.
Hezbollah's Rejection and Internal Divide
Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah has sharply criticized the Lebanese government's negotiations with Israel. Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said it was in Aoun's and Lebanon's "interest" to withdraw from the talks, though he added that his group also wanted the ceasefire to last.
International Support for Talks
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam is set to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée Palace late Tuesday, with Macron expected to reaffirm his support for the ceasefire. The meeting comes three days after the death of a French peacekeeper in southern Lebanon, underscoring the human cost of the conflict to international peacekeeping efforts.
