Lebanon heads into a new round of talks with Israel in Washington, seeking progress on key security issues and an Israeli withdrawal timeline. The negotiations, however, are being overshadowed by Iran's decision to fold Lebanon-related issues into its broader talks with the U.S.
Lebanese officials say direct talks with Israel are the only path to ending the conflict, which erupted on 2 March after Hezbollah launched attacks in support of Iran.
But four rounds of Lebanese-Israeli talks since April failed to produce a durable ceasefire.
Instead, the longest lull in fighting came this week after Iran and the U.S. agreed a memorandum of understanding that stipulated fighting would halt across all fronts, including Lebanon.
That deal buoyed Iran-backed Hezbollah and dealt a blow to the Lebanese state, whose leaders including President Joseph Aoun had repeatedly warned that Tehran cannot negotiate on Lebanon's behalf.
The Lebanese official was skeptical that any tangible progress would come out of the negotiations, which are set to last for three days.
"There remains a fundamental problem of trust between us and the Israelis in these talks. We cannot fulfill their demands, and they reject all of ours," the official said.
Lebanon has said that one of its key goals in the talks would be securing an Israeli military withdrawal, but top Israeli officials have said that troops would remain in southern Lebanon indefinitely.
The Lebanese official said that Beirut would demand Israel present a "reasonable" timetable for its withdrawal at the talks.
"This is the only chance we have to generate momentum in these talks, and in this tug-of-war with Iran," the official said.
Israel, meanwhile, sees the purpose of the upcoming talks as "disarming Hezbollah and achieving a genuine peace agreement" with Lebanon, according to a briefing by Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer.
The Lebanese government has moved carefully since 2025 to disarm Hezbollah without confronting the group directly, fearing it would spark a civil conflict.
Hezbollah has rejected disarming in full and has called on the government to withdraw from its direct talks with Israel.
Karim Safieddine, a fellow at the Washington-based Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy, told Reuters there was a risk that Israel could assume an even more hardline position in the Washington talks given its officials' anger over the U.S.-Iran deal.
While that deal had brought relative calm to Lebanon, there was "no structural change" in the Lebanese and Israeli positions that indicated progress could be made at the negotiating table, Safieddine said.
Israeli air strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs then largely stopped, but fierce fighting continued in southern Lebanon as Israeli troops pushed deeper into Lebanese villages.
The U.S. announced a new ceasefire initiative in early June again as part of the Lebanese-Israeli talks, but it was contingent on Hezbollah halting fire and was rejected by the group.
Hezbollah expects Iran to demand an Israeli withdrawal as it pursues talks with the U.S. on a final deal, and says the Lebanese government should bet on that track instead of its direct negotiations.
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