Israel and Lebanon have agreed to start talks “as soon as possible” on their disputed land border nearly four months after a ceasefire paused the most recent war between the two countries.
The Netanyahu and Trump administrations announced on Tuesday that Israel, Lebanon, France, and the US would establish working groups to negotiate the Israel-Lebanon border, the presence of Israeli troops in southern Lebanon, and the release of Lebanese detainees held in Israel.
Israel freed five Lebanese prisoners this week who had been captured during last year’s war in what Jerusalem called “a gesture” to the newly elected Lebanese President Joseph Aoun.
The state of affairs: IDF troops control five points in southern Lebanon where Israel says Hezbollah still poses a threat to Israelis in the northern part of the Jewish state. Hezbollah, meanwhile, has accused Israel of violating the November ceasefire by failing to withdraw its troops and launching sporadic attacks. Between the Nov. 27 ceasefire and mid-January, the data collection group Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project recorded hundreds of air strikes, shellings, and infrastructure demolitions by Israel.
The extent of the talks remains unclear. A senior Israeli official told the Times of Israel that the aim of the negotiations is “to reach normalization” with Lebanon. But a US official told Fox News the goal of mutual recognition and “normalization” of ties was “overblown” and risked stalling progress on agreeing to a set border between the two Levantine nations. The Lebanese government denied claims that the talks could lead to a permanent normalization.
