In a possible push for a Middle East ceasefire, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday he has authorized direct negotiations “as soon as possible” with Lebanon aimed at disarming the Hezbollah militia and establishing relations between the two nations.
The two countries have technically been at war since Israel was established in 1948, and Netanyahu later stressed that there was no ceasefire between them. In a video statement, he said Israel will continue attacking Hezbollah until security is restored in northern Israel.
There was no immediate response from Lebanon. But negotiations between Israel and Lebanon are expected to begin next week at the State Department in Washington, according to a U.S. official and a person familiar with the plans, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
The prospect of talks appeared to reinforce a tentative ceasefire in the war with Iran that was reeling over Israel’s bombing of Beirut, Tehran’s control over the Strait of Hormuz and uncertainty over whether talks can find common ground.
US President Donald Trump said Thursday he was “very optimistic” about reaching a peace deal, saying Iranian leaders are more receptive in private talks than in their public statements.
Netanyahu’s announcement came amid disagreement over whether the ceasefire included a pause in fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, and a day after Israel carried out the deadliest bombing of Lebanon since the US-Israel war against Iran began on February 28.
Israel has fought multiple wars and launched several invasions over the years, and just last month sent troops in response to Hezbollah fire on Israeli communities on the northern border.
The start of direct peace talks is a significant achievement, although reaching an agreement will be difficult after decades of hostilities, the presence of Hezbollah and long-standing disagreements over the land border.
The talks in Washington are expected to be led on the U.S. side by U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa and on the Israeli side by Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter, according to the person familiar with the planning.
It was not immediately clear who would represent Lebanon.
Axios was the first to report the time and location of the talks.
After declaring victory with the ceasefire announcement, both Iran and the United States appeared to try to put pressure on each other. Semi-official news agencies in Iran said its military has placed mines in the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial sea lane for oil that Tehran has closed. Trump warned that US forces will hit Iran even harder than before if it does not comply with the deal.
Questions also lingered about what will happen to Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium, how and when normal traffic through the strait will resume, and what happens to Iran’s ability to launch future missile attacks and support its allies in the region.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a message on Telegram that Iran’s decision to accept a ceasefire was made unanimously by senior government leaders and approved by the supreme leader. He said the ceasefire “is not a sign of weakness, but a way to consolidate Iran’s proud victories.”
Despite disputes over the ceasefire, it appears to have halted weeks of Iran’s missile and drone attacks against its Arab neighbors in the Persian Gulf and Israel, with no new launches reported on Thursday. There were also no reports of attacks by the United States or Israel against Iran.
Israel vows to continue attacking Hezbollah in Lebanon
In a social media post, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf warned Thursday that Israel’s attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon will bring “explicit costs and strong responses.”
Qalibaf has been discussed as a possible negotiator who could meet US Vice President JD Vance this weekend in Islamabad. The White House has said Vance will lead the delegation for talks that begin Saturday.
Iran had said Israel’s new attacks on Lebanon were violating the ceasefire agreement. Netanyahu and Trump argue not.
Trump said Thursday that he asked Netanyahu to reduce attacks in Lebanon.
“I talked to Bibi, and she’s going to tone it down. I just think we have to be a little more discreet,” Trump told NBC News.
Hours before Netanyahu authorized negotiations with Lebanon, he said Israel will continue to attack fighters in the country “with force, precision and determination.”
Lebanon’s Health Ministry reported that more than 300 people were killed and more than 1,100 injured Wednesday in Israeli strikes in central Beirut and other areas of Lebanon, which Israel said targeted Hezbollah.
Israel said Thursday it killed Ali Yusuf Harshi, an aide to Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem. Hezbollah did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A New York-based think tank warned that the ceasefire “is on the brink of collapse” following Israel’s attacks on Wednesday.
The Lebanese state-run National News Agency reported that an Israeli strike overnight killed at least seven people in southern Lebanon. The Israeli army did not immediately acknowledge the attack.
Mine threat looms over the Strait of Hormuz
Semi-official news agencies in Iran published a graphic Thursday suggesting that the Revolutionary Guard placed sea mines in the Strait of Hormuz during the war, a message perhaps intended to pressure the United States.
The graphic, released by the ISNA news agency as well as Tasnim, showed a large circle labeled “danger zone” in Farsi on the route that ships take to cross the strait, through which 20% of all traded oil and natural gas previously passed.
Only a few ships have transited the strait since the war began after several vessels were attacked, and Iran threatened to target anyone deemed to be linked to the United States or Israel. Ships appeared to continue avoiding the strait even after the ceasefire.
The graph indicates that the ships are traveling through waters closer to mainland Iran, near the island of Larak, a route some ships were observed taking during the war. It was dated from February 28 to April 9, and it is not clear if the Revolutionary Guard had removed any mines since then.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh told the BBC that his country will allow ships to pass through the strait in accordance with “international norms and international law” once the United States ends its “aggression” in the Middle East and Israel stops attacking Lebanon.
The head of the UAE’s main oil company, Sultan al-Jaber, explained that some 230 oil-laden ships were waiting to pass through the strait and should be allowed “to navigate this corridor without conditions.”
The de facto closure of the strait has caused oil prices to skyrocket — affecting the cost of gasoline, food and other commodities far beyond the Middle East. The spot price of Brent crude, the international benchmark, was around $98 on Thursday, up about 35% since the war began.
The fate of Iranian enriched uranium is unknown
The fate of Iran’s nuclear and missile programs — whose elimination were important goals for the United States and Israel going to war — also remained unclear. The United States insists that Iran should never be able to build nuclear weapons and wants to withdraw Tehran’s stockpile of enriched uranium, which could be used to build them. Iran insists its program is peaceful.
Trump said Wednesday that the United States will work with Iran to remove uranium, which was buried in last year’s US-Israeli attacks, although Iran did not confirm this. In a version of the ceasefire agreement that Iran released, it said it would be allowed to continue enrichment.
The head of Iran’s nuclear agency, Mohammad Eslami, said Thursday that protecting Tehran’s right to enrich uranium is “necessary” for any ceasefire talks.
