US urges Lebanese president to meet Netanyahu, suggests sit-down could lead to IDF pullout

US embassy in Lebanon says direct engagement with Israel ‘can mark the beginning of a national revival,’ as political leaders in Beirut remain at odds over the talks with Jerusalem

The US appeared to be intensifying its efforts to arrange a meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, suggesting Thursday that a sit-down could lead to Israeli forces withdrawing from southern Lebanon amid the shaky ceasefire with Hezbollah.

“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,” read a statement from the US Embassy in Lebanon.

The Trump administration has been pushing such direct engagement between the two leaders for weeks, with little success, having intended for the truce it brokered to allow for talks on a peace deal, potentially shaking up Lebanon’s internal dynamics and its role in the region. But Lebanese leaders remain at odds over the negotiation format and ultimate goal.

Aoun faces significant domestic pressure back home, including threats from Hezbollah, and it’s unclear whether he would be willing to meet Netanyahu while Israeli forces continue to occupy a buffer zone in southern Lebanon, where the shaky US-brokered ceasefire has failed to fully halt the war.

“Lebanon stands at a crossroads. Its people have a historic opportunity to reclaim their country and shape their future as a truly sovereign, independent nation,” read the statement from the US embassy.

“Direct engagement between Lebanon and Israel, two neighboring countries that should have never been at war, can mark the beginning of a national revival. The extended cessation of hostilities, achieved at the personal request of President Trump, has given Lebanon the space and the opportunity to put all of its legitimate demands on the table with the full attention of the United States government,” the statement continued.

“This is Lebanon’s moment to decide its own destiny, one which belongs to all its people. The United States is ready to stand with Lebanon as it seizes this opportunity with confidence and wisdom. The time for hesitation is over,” the US embassy added.

Aoun has defended face-to-face talks with Israel in Washington, and has said the ceasefire should be transformed into “permanent agreements.” Although he has stopped short of explicitly calling for a peace deal, two sources familiar with Aoun’s position told Reuters he had privately expressed his readiness to normalize ties with Israel to stop the war.

Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally, is opposed to direct talks, reflecting the Iran-backed Lebanese terrorist group’s position. Berri believes Lebanon should seek a non-aggression pact with Israel but not a full peace deal, two Lebanese sources familiar with his position told Reuters.

Saudis said to advise against Aoun meeting Netanyahu soon

The growing rift among top Lebanese officials has thrown a wrench into Saudi efforts to help Lebanon’s leaders forge a united position over the negotiations with Israel, Lebanese sources and foreign officials told Reuters.

Last week, Saudi envoy to Lebanon Prince Yazid bin Farhan visited Beirut to encourage Aoun, Berri and Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam to set out a single position on the talks and to signal their unity through a tripartite meeting, according to two senior Lebanese political sources who met with bin Farhan and a Western official briefed on the talks.

But plans to hold such a meeting this week were derailed by rising tensions, all three sources said, after Berri publicly accused Aoun of making statements about negotiations that were “inaccurate, to say the least.”

There was no immediate response to requests for comment from Aoun’s office or from the Saudi government media office. Aoun met Salam on Thursday, the presidency said in a statement, without mentioning Berri.

The splits between Aoun and Berri, who hold their positions according to a power-sharing system that divides Lebanon’s top posts by religion, reflect broader divisions within Lebanese society over the negotiations with Israel.

Some Lebanese see direct talks and a swift peace deal as the only way to end a long history of Israeli invasions into Lebanon.

But Hezbollah and much of its broader Shiite Muslim constituency are firmly opposed to face-to-face talks and to normalizing ties. Some people protesting against talks earlier this month called for the government to be toppled.

Saudi Arabia’s intervention with Lebanese leaders was driven by the risk of such instability — as well as its concern that Lebanon was moving towards peace with Israel too swiftly, according to a Gulf source with knowledge of the matter, the two senior Lebanese political sources and the Western official.

Bin Farhan sought and received reassurances that Hezbollah would not seek to topple the Lebanese government, and cautioned Lebanese leaders last week that Beirut’s progress toward peace with Israel should not outpace Saudi Arabia’s, the four sources said.

Riyadh’s longstanding position has been that it will only sign up to the Abraham Accords normalizing ties with Israel if there is agreement on a roadmap to Palestinian statehood.

Bin Farhan also advised Lebanese authorities against Aoun meeting Netanyahu soon, the two senior Lebanese political sources said.

However, Saudi Arabia does want Lebanon to work toward a “detente” with Israel that would halt instability, the Gulf source and one of the Lebanese sources said.

Israeli strikes have killed more than 2,500 people in Lebanon and displaced more than 1.2 million since the latest round of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah began on March 2, according to Lebanese authorities, whose casualty figures don’t differentiate between civilians and combatants. The Israeli military has said that it has killed over 1,900 Hezbollah operatives, including hundreds of members of the terror group’s elite Radwan Force, since hostilities escalated amid the war with Iran.

Seventeen IDF soldiers and one Defense Ministry civilian contractor have been killed in southern Lebanon during the fighting against Hezbollah. Two civilians were also killed by Hezbollah rockets, and an Israeli civilian was mistakenly killed in the north by Israeli artillery shelling.