Lebanon, Israel eye third round of talks, but no Netanyahu-Aoun meeting in sight

BEIRUT — As Lebanon appears to be heading for a third round of talks with Israel next week, the Trump administration is working to fast-track direct negotiations between the two countries, pushing for a meeting between Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu amid escalating Israeli attacks in the country.

Lebanese and Israeli representatives are reportedly meeting in Washington next week for the third time to lay the groundwork for direct negotiations. The Lebanese delegation will include Lebanese Ambassador to the US Nada Hamadeh, who attended the previous two rounds. She will reportedly be joined for the first time by former Ambassador Simon Karam, deputy chief of mission Wissam Botros and a representative of the Lebanese military, according to Lebanon's LBCI.

The talks are expected to take place at the State Department over two days, either Wednesday and Thursday or Thursday and Friday, LBCI reported.

There has been no official confirmation from the US side. 

What happened: The US hosted two rounds of talks last month between Hamadeh and her Israeli counterpart, Yechiel Leiter. They met for the first time on April 16 amid the war between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, which began on March 2.

US President Donald Trump announced a 10-day ceasefire during the first round of ambassador-level talks. He joined the second round of talks on April 23, when he announced a three-week extension of the ceasefire. Speaking to reporters, Trump said he looked forward to hosting Netanyahu and Aoun during the ceasefire, which expires on May 17.

Last week, the US Embassy in Beirut appeared to condition such a meeting on security guarantees for Lebanon.

“A direct meeting between President Aoun and Prime Minister Netanyahu, facilitated by President Trump, would give Lebanon the chance to secure concrete guarantees on full sovereignty, territorial integrity, secure borders, humanitarian and reconstruction support and the complete restoration of Lebanese state authority over every inch of its territory — guaranteed by the United States,” the embassy said in a statement on Thursday.

The US is eager to resolve the Lebanese file, and US Ambassador to Beirut Michel Issa held a series of meetings with Lebanese officials over the past few days.

Speaking at a press conference in Beirut on Monday, Issa defended the idea of a meeting between Aoun and Netanyahu, saying it “would not constitute a defeat or a concession.”

Netanyahu “is not the bogeyman, he is the other party in the negotiations,” he said, referring to growing criticism of Aoun for seeking direct engagement with Israel.

Why it matters: While no date has been announced yet, the Lebanese president is reportedly heading to Washington next week. However, he has said that a meeting with Netanyahu is not currently on the table.

“We must first reach a security agreement and stop the Israeli attacks on us before we raise the issue of a meeting between us,” Aoun said in a statement on Monday.

He also mentioned that “preparatory talks” are expected with the Lebanese ambassador in Washington, the third meeting to arrange negotiations under US auspices.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said on Wednesday that talk about any meeting between the two leaders is “still premature.”

In statements to journalists carried by the state-run National News Agency, the premier explained that his country is not seeking “normalization with Israel, but rather achieving peace.”

Lebanon was drawn into the regional conflict after Hezbollah began launching rockets toward Israel on March 2 in support of Iran, triggering a large-scale Israeli escalation in the country that has since killed more than 2,700 people, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

Israel and Hezbollah have continued to exchange fire in southern Lebanon despite the ceasefire, while Israeli troops have established the so-called defensive Yellow Line some 10 kilometers (six miles) inside Lebanese territory.

Lebanon is seeking a deal that would guarantee an end to Israeli attacks and the withdrawal of its forces from south Lebanon, while Israel is pushing for an agreement that would permanently disarm Hezbollah.

Know more: In his most recent comments on the Lebanese file, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that a peace agreement between Lebanon and Israel can be reached.

“I think a peace deal between Lebanon and Israel is eminently achievable and should be,” he told reporters at the White House, reiterating that there was no problem between the Lebanese and Israeli governments.

“The problem with Israel and Lebanon is not Israel or Lebanon; it’s Hezbollah,” Rubio said, adding that Israel is attacking Lebanon because of the Iranian-backed group, which operates from inside Lebanese territory.

“What has to happen in Lebanon, what everybody wants to see, is that you have a Lebanese government with the capability to go after Hezbollah and take Hezbollah apart.”

Hezbollah has repeatedly rejected any negotiations with Israel, and its supporters accuse Aoun and his government of treason. In a televised speech last week, Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem described the Lebanon-Israel talks as a “humiliating and unnecessary concession.”

Parliament speaker Nabih Berri, who also heads the Shiite Amal party and is a close ally of Hezbollah, said on Monday that there could be no negotiations with Israel without a halt to the war.