Israel And Lebanon Agree ⁠to Launch direct Talks After Meeting In US

2 min readNew DelhiApr 15, 2026 07:29 AM IST

Israel and Lebanon on Wednesday agreed ⁠to launch direct negotiations at a mutually ⁠agreed-upon place and time to end hostilities with militant group Hezbollah. The announcement came following a meeting mediated by the US in Washington.

This comes against a backdrop of a ceasefire between the US and Iran. Lebanon was dragged into the wider conflict in West Asia after Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel on March 2 over the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei days earlier.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who mediated the talks, said it was a “historic opportunity” to end Iranian proxy group’s influence. Israel said it wanted to disarm all non-state terror groups, as quoted by the BBC.

In the meantime, in an interview with Fox News, Trump said that the war with Iran is “close to over”.

The parallel war between Israel and Hezbollah has complicated Pakistan’s mediation efforts to end the war in West Asia, as the cessation of conflict on all fronts, including in Lebanon, was among the terms in Iran’s 10-point proposal.

After US President Donald Trump announced the truce with Iran last week, Tel Aviv scaled up its offense against Hezbollah. Before the announcement, more than 1,500 had been killed in Israel’s air and ground campaign across Lebanon.

The death toll has now risen to more than 2,100. According to a Wall Street Journal report, the fatalities include 1,702 men, 254 women and 168 children. The attacks drew flak from several European and West Asian countries and the International Committee of the Red Cross, as dozens of healthcare workers were killed and many more injured.

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