JERUSALEM (Diya TV) — Israel and Lebanon have agreed to negotiate their disputed land border after United States mediation, officials from both nations confirmed Tuesday. The development is a significant step toward de-escalating tensions that have long driven conflict between the two countries.
The talks will center on 13 contentious issues along the “Blue Line,” a border that the United Nations drew in 2000 to monitor Israel’s pullout from southern Lebanon. The talks also will discuss the fate of five Israeli military outposts in south Lebanon and what happens to Lebanese prisoners being detained by Israel, a White House official stated.
American diplomats have worked discreetly over weeks to persuade the two to talk. Talks occurred just months following Israel’s month-long assault of Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon amid cross-border incidents, which started from the conflict involving Israel and Hamas that had been initiated in October of 2023. It was the Biden administration that secured the cease-fire in November in an agreement for advancement towards the borders of lands as a venue of negotiations.
“Today the United States declared that we are bringing Lebanon and Israel together to negotiate some issues of importance that have been lingering between the two nations,” said a White House official.
As a sign of goodwill, Israel freed five Lebanese detainees, among them a member of Hezbollah, who were seized during last year’s hostilities. The Lebanon president’s office, Joseph Aoun, confirmed the releases and indicated it appreciated the action.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office also verified the deal and the release of the prisoners, labeling it “a gesture of goodwill for the new Lebanese government.” The talks will be facilitated by trilateral working groups headed by U.S., Israeli, and Lebanese diplomats, with negotiations possibly starting as early as next month.
The deal would have significant consequences for Hezbollah, which has long used Israel’s occupation of disputed border areas as a justification for its military presence in Lebanon. “If a border deal is concluded, Hezbollah’s alibi will be gone,” said Mohanad Hage Ali, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut.
Israel and Lebanon, which do not have official diplomatic relations, had earlier signed a U.S.-mediated maritime border deal in 2022. The agreement defined their exclusive economic zones in the eastern Mediterranean, resolving differences over offshore gas fields. The negotiations to come represent a continuation of diplomatic efforts to settle border disputes between the two neighbors.
