1 p.m. update: Secret meeting between Netanyahu and MBZ in Emirates; tensions rise in southern Lebanon amid Israeli strikes
The meeting scheduled for late Monday in Washington between Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio comes as negotiations between Lebanon and Israel have largely stalled since the seventh round began in early August.
by Yara Sarkis · L'Orient TodayToday's top story
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a secret trip to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Sunday for a meeting with its leader, Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan (MBZ), according to several Israeli media outlets. The visit was not publicly announced by either country. Netanyahu is said to have made a round trip on Sunday and met with the Emirati president MBZ.
Why it matters
The trip comes amid the ongoing Middle East war and a new controversy following media reports that the Emirates had warned Netanyahu about a possible Hamas operation shortly before the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks — a warning he allegedly did not share with his security services. The Israeli prime minister denies the existence of such a warning. On Sept. 25, U.S. outlet The Atlantic reported Israel had received a second alert from Egyptian intelligence warning of an imminent Hamas attack ahead of Oct. 7, 2023.
During the conflict, Israel took the unusual step of temporarily supplying the United Arab Emirates with a battery of its Iron Dome missile defense system, along with Israeli operators.
What to watch
- Since Sunday Israel has notably escalated its air strikes on southern Lebanon. After a relatively calm night, dozens of airstrikes targeted villages and valleys in the Tyre, Bint Jbeil, and Marjayoun districts starting at dawn Monday, while Israeli aircraft and reconnaissance drones intensely patrolled the area. Meanwhile, Israeli occupying forces continued demolition operations.
- These Israeli attacks come as, on Sunday, during the commemoration of the second anniversary of the assassination of Hassan Nasrallah, former secretary-general of Hezbollah, the party’s current leader, Naim Qassem, delivered a scathing speech against Lebanese authorities, urging them to "freeze direct negotiations with Israel" and return to indirect talks, accusing the "government of contributing to the Israeli project rather than opposing it."
- Nawaf Salam to meet Marco Rubio: After a week of diplomatic meetings in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, the Lebanese prime minister continues his tour in Washington, expected to meet with the U.S. secretary of state. The anticipated meeting comes ahead of the eighth round of Lebanon-Israel talks, which could be held in early October in Rome. According to local media, negotiations are expected to take center stage in discussions between Salam and Rubio. Meetings are also planned with officials from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB).
- To recap, the process outlined by the Lebanon-Israel framework agreement reached June 26, 2026, under U.S. mediation, is progressing with difficulty. The seventh round of negotiations in early August failed to resolve major disagreements — particularly over the Israeli withdrawal and guarantees concerning the implementation of commitments. The negotiating channel has since largely ground to a halt.
Elsewhere in the news:
- Iran says it has no new discussions planned with the United States, though Donald Trump has suggested talks could resume quickly. Mediators are reportedly pressing Tehran to make concessions on its nuclear program in order to revive negotiations with Washington. According to sources cited by the Wall Street Journal, Iranian leaders believe they can withstand a prolonged U.S. blockade or a resumption of airstrikes.
- The Sultanate of Oman has donated 20 buses to Lebanon to be used in public transport, during a ceremony organized by the Railway and Public Transport Authority (OCFTC) in the Mar Mikhael district of Beirut, attended by Minister of Public Works and Transportation Fayez Rasamny. The gift comes as the Lebanese government, in July, approved a project to acquire 100 buses for the OCFTC, funded by a donation from the government of the People’s Republic of China, to strengthen the Lebanese network after other buses provided by France were put into service.
- In recent years, several thousand people have been prosecuted in Turkey, particularly for "insulting the president," sometimes over social media posts from years earlier. On Monday, a Turkish comedian appears before an Istanbul court for insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after a satirical stand-up show in June, which could land him in prison for years.
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