Lebanese and Israeli diplomats met on Wednesday in the border town of Naqoura, marking their first direct and public engagement in over three decades. The meeting, facilitated by the United States, comes just days after Israel assassinated senior Hezbollah commander Haytham Ali Tabatabai in an airstrike on Beirut’s southern suburbs.
For the first time, both sides appointed civilian envoys to the military committee that monitors their ceasefire—an expansion of the committee’s scope that officials on both sides say opens the door to broader dialogue between the long-time adversaries.
A joint statement issued after the meeting described the participation of the additional envoys as “an important step” toward ensuring the committee is “anchored in lasting civilian as well as military dialogue.”
The talks focused on economic cooperation in southern Lebanon, a region grappling with the aftermath of repeated Israeli raids and cross-border tensions. According to Axios, the US sees the talks as a step toward stabilizing the border and preventing another war.
A US official told the outlet that Washington has been pushing for such a dialogue for nine months, despite limited enthusiasm on either side. The Trump administration, which led the mediation at the time, hopes the dialogue could ease growing strains between the two countries.
The meeting comes less than two weeks after the Israeli military killed Tabatabai, Hezbollah’s second-in-command and head of its military operations, in one of the most significant escalations since last year’s ceasefire. The Nov. 23 strike was the first on Beirut in five months.
Despite the ceasefire, Israeli air raids have intensified, targeting what Tel Aviv claims are Hezbollah weapons facilities and command centers. Israeli officials told Axios they are frustrated by the Lebanese government’s failure to implement disarmament decisions targeting Hezbollah.
Israel has warned the White House that it may be “forced to resume the war” should Hezbollah continue rearming at its current pace.
Washington's mediation and regional stakes
The meeting in Naqoura was reportedly secured through sustained US diplomatic pressure. According to Axios, U.S. envoy Morgan Ortagus persuaded Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to send a diplomat to the meeting, arguing that “while the Lebanese government can do more to stand up to Hezbollah,” it remains the most cooperative government Israel has seen in decades. Meanwhile, newly appointed US Ambassador Michel Issa was said to have played a key role in convincing Lebanese officials to attend despite ongoing Israeli attacks.
The US vision, officials said, includes establishing a “Trump Economic Zone” along the Israel-Lebanon border—an area free of Hezbollah presence, where joint economic projects could be launched.
While the idea of such a zone remains speculative, sources said both sides agreed to reconvene before the new year, bringing forward proposals focused on economic recovery and confidence-building.
Hezbollah rejects “normalization”
Hezbollah supporters staged night protests in the southern suburbs of Beirut following news of the meeting, rejecting what they called a “normalization attempt” with Israel.
The party also opposes a US-endorsed Lebanese government plan, passed in August, that calls for ending armed presence across Lebanese territory and transferring the disarmament responsibility to the Lebanese army. The decision has sparked criticism from Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc and field-level tensions across the country.
Though indirect negotiations over the maritime border occurred during both the Trump and Biden administrations, those talks focused solely on technical demarcation and were mediated through third parties. Wednesday’s meeting, by contrast, marked the first direct, public, and politically significant encounter between Lebanese and Israeli diplomats since 1993.
