Beirut, Dec 3, (dpa/GNA) — Lebanon and Israel sent civilian representatives for the first time, to attend a meeting of the year-old ceasefire monitoring mechanism established after the November 2024 halt in hostilities with Hezbollah, Lebanese security sources said on Wednesday.
The meeting took place at the headquarters of the United Nations peacekeeping force (UNIFIL) in Naqoura, near the southern Lebanese border, according to government and security sources.
The US embassy in Beirut announced that all parties had described the step as important progress towards civil dialogue.
The talks included Lebanon’s former ambassador to the US, Simon Karam; National Security Council Senior Director for Foreign Policy Uri Resnick of Israel; and US envoy Morgan Ortagus, the statement said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, said in a statement issued on Wednesday evening that “the meeting took place in a good atmosphere.”
Observers, saw the participation of civilian representatives from both Lebanon and Israel as a sign of demilitarization of the talks, and also as a step towards diplomacy. Usually, the representatives at such meetings are military figures.
Netanyahu’s statement added that Hezbollah must be disarmed regardless of any possible progress in economic cooperation, and that is was agreed to hold a follow-up discussion.
Washington has intensified diplomatic pressure on Beirut to disarm Hezbollah, and is pushing for a structured dialogue between the two neighbouring states, which have no formal diplomatic relations. Officially, the two neighbouring states are at war.
A ceasefire has been in place between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah militia since November last year. Nevertheless, there are almost daily attacks by Israel on the territory of the neighbouring country.
Both sides accuse each other of violating the ceasefire. Efforts in Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah have not yet been successful.
Speaking to broadcaster Al-Jazeera, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam stressed that Lebanon was not entering peace negotiations with Israel and that normalization remained tied to a broader Arab-Israeli peace process.
GNA