Lebanon10 May, 20263 min read
US Facilitates Israel-Lebanon Talks May 14-15, Seeking Comprehensive Peace and Security Agreement
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US State Department will facilitate two-day Israel-Lebanon talks on May 14-15. Talks aim to forge a comprehensive peace and security agreement addressing core concerns.
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Talks set for May 14-15
Israel and Lebanon are set to move toward a new round of talks aimed at ending their long-standing conflict, with the US facilitating negotiations that could begin as early as the 14th, according to The Jerusalem Post. The US State Department said the next round of intensive talks between Israel and Lebanon will take place on May 14 and 15, building on an April 23 round led personally by US President Donald Trump. The talks are framed around advancing a comprehensive peace and security agreement that addresses border delineation, humanitarian and reconstruction support for Lebanon, and the full restoration of Lebanese sovereignty across its territory.
The US also emphasized that comprehensive peace is contingent on the full restoration of Lebanese state authority and the complete disarmament of Hezbollah, and it described Hezbollah as a US-designated Foreign Terrorist Organisation. Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said Lebanon is moving toward peace with Israel rather than normalization, insisting on the state's right to control the situation and ensuring that weapons remain in the state's exclusive possession.
Rubio presses Hezbollah disarmament
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, "We want the relations between Israel and Lebanon, its legitimate government, to be very strong. The impediment to that is Hezbollah," linking the obstacle to Hezbollah’s presence.
Rubio also said the US aims to empower the Lebanese government to deal with the threat of Hezbollah and called on other countries to help equip the government and cut off Hezbollah's financing.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam told journalists that Lebanon is negotiating on its own behalf, adding, "this does not mean the Lebanese track is completely separate from the negotiations track in Islamabad," according to LBCI.
The US statement described the talks as a break from what it called "the failed approach of the past two decades," which it said allowed terrorist groups to entrench and enrich themselves and undermine the authority of the Lebanese state.
The Jerusalem Post reported that Israel and Lebanon will resume negotiations with two days of intensive talks facilitated by the US on May 14 and 15, with discussions expected to address delineation of borders and concrete pathways for humanitarian relief and reconstruction.
Sovereignty, reconstruction, and state authority
The US facilitation is tied to a framework that includes the full restoration of Lebanese sovereignty throughout its territory, the delineation of borders, and creating concrete pathways for humanitarian relief and reconstruction in Lebanon. The US Embassy in Beirut said a direct meeting between Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, facilitated by President Trump, would give Lebanon the opportunity to obtain tangible guarantees regarding full sovereignty, territorial integrity, border security, humanitarian support and reconstruction, and the restoration of the Lebanese state's full authority over every inch of its territory. EU Ambassador to Lebanon Sandra Duval said the European Union is renewing its commitment to Lebanon and its people, stressing that support to security agencies, ministries, and state institutions is intended to help the state fulfill its obligations.
Duval added that the EU encourages steps taken to restore state authority and reaffirm Lebanon's sovereignty and unity of its territory across the country, while noting Lebanon continues to bear the consequences of a devastating conflict that displaced thousands of families and destroyed entire villages. In the same context of state authority, the US position holds that comprehensive peace depends on Lebanese state authority and the complete disarmament of Hezbollah, while the Lebanese government prepares proposals including ending Israeli strikes, releasing all prisoners, and a phased withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon.