Israeli, Lebanese officials meet directly for 2nd time amid efforts to maintain truce

Meeting attended by security and civilian officials; PM’s office says ‘economic initiatives’ were the focus; US reports the sides agreed political and economic progress crucial to stability

Israeli and Lebanese officials met directly in the southern Lebanon town of Naqoura on Friday, as the two enemy states look to maintain the year-old ceasefire in the war with Hezbollah, amid fears that conflict with the Iran-backed terror group could soon erupt again.

Friday’s forum was the 15th time the so-called “Pentalateral” committee, aimed at preserving the ceasefire has convened, though it was only the second time in decades that Israeli and Lebanese civilian officials have met directly, after a meeting earlier this month. Lebanon and Israel have been officially enemy nations since the Jewish state’s founding in 1948.

Representing Israel at the meeting was National Security Council official Joseph (Yossi) Draznin, replacing his deputy, Eli Resnick, who represented Israel at the first direct talks on December 3.

The talks, which were held at the UN peacekeeping force’s headquarters in the coastal border town, were also attended by a number of civilian representatives from the two countries.

According to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, the meeting examined “ways to advance economic initiatives in order to demonstrate the mutual interest in removing the Hezbollah threat and to ensure sustainable security for residents on both sides of the border.”

The meeting was “a continuation of the security dialogue aimed at ensuring the disarmament of Hezbollah by the Lebanese Armed Forces,” the PMO said in a statement.

While the meeting was ostensibly about economic cooperation, Axios’s Barak Ravid reported, citing a source familiar with the details, that it was unofficially aimed at preventing a resumption of the war.

The report seemed to be confirmed by the US Embassy in Beirut, which said Friday’s talks focused on addressing civilian issues to help prevent renewed war.

“Civilian participants, in parallel, focused on setting conditions for residents to return safely to their homes, advancing reconstruction, and addressing economic priorities,” the embassy said.

The statement added that military participants gave “operational updates and remained focused on deepening the military-to-military cooperation by finding ways to increase coordination.”

The Lebanese and Israeli participants agreed that durable political and economic progress was essential to reinforcing security gains and ensuring long-term stability and prosperity, the embassy said.

A source familiar with the discussions told Reuters they also addressed disputes over how to limit weaponry south of the Litani River and deploying the Lebanese army into the Hezbollah.

The committee added that a strengthened Lebanese army, which participants described as the guarantor of security south of the Litani River but was for many years outgunned by Hezbollah, was critical to sustaining stability.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun affirmed the priority of returning residents of border villages to their homes, the Lebanese presidency said in a statement, adding that the committee would reconvene on January 7.

On Thursday, French, Saudi Arabian and American officials met in Paris with the head of the Lebanese army, in talks aimed at finalizing a roadmap to a mechanism for Hezbollah’s disarmament, as an end-of-year deadline nears for Lebanon’s central government to disarm the group.

Israel has been ramping up its military operations in Lebanon in recent weeks, amid reports of a possible widescale Israeli offensive targeting Hezbollah, despite a ceasefire that began in November 2024.

Under the terms of the ceasefire, Hezbollah was required to vacate southern Lebanon, while Israel was given 60 days to do so. The IDF later withdrew from all but five posts along the border with Lebanon, citing the incomplete dismantling of Hezbollah’s infrastructure in the country’s south.

In addition to hundreds of airstrikes amid the ceasefire, the military said, ground troops have conducted over 1,200 raids and other small operations in southern Lebanon, mostly in areas surrounding the five “strategic” border posts, to prevent Hezbollah from restoring its capabilities.

Israel invaded Lebanon in September 2024 in a bid to secure the return home of some 60,000 residents displaced by Hezbollah’s near-daily attacks on northern Israel starting October 8, 2023 — a day after fellow Iran-backed group Hamas invaded southern Israel, sparking the war in Gaza.