BEIRUT: Diplomatic efforts to put pressure on Israel to agree a ceasefire in Lebanon as a necessary step toward formal peace negotiations are intensifying, following the unprecedented direct talks between the countries in Washington this week, Lebanese officials told Arab News on Wednesday.
A senior official said intensive contacts are underway with international and regional actors to secure a halt to the hostilities, with a ceasefire a non-negotiable condition for moving forward.
“Lebanon is insisting on a full ceasefire before entering any formal negotiations,” the source said, adding that the government “will not relinquish a single inch of Lebanese territory.”
The push comes after a rare meeting on Tuesday between the Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors at the US State Department in Washington, an encounter that marked a significant diplomatic shift.
According to the official, the meeting “broke a longstanding taboo” by bringing the two sides face to face, a step previously considered politically unthinkable in Lebanon.
However, the official stressed that the real test lies ahead, as Lebanon enters what he described as a phase of assessing the outcome of the initial talks while preparing for a second, more substantive round of negotiations conditioned on a ceasefire.
The US, which hosted the meeting, described the talks as “productive” and confirmed that both sides had agreed to pursue further direct negotiations at a time and place yet to be determined.
The Lebanese official said Washington’s stance during and after the meeting was “positive,” and Beirut was also working to rally Arab support, particularly from Saudi Arabia, to reinforce efforts aimed at deescalation.
Despite initial concerns, the talks have not triggered any significant political backlash in Lebanon. They were welcomed in some political circles as a “bold and courageous” step, while opposition from Hezbollah and its allies has so far remained contained.
Days earlier, Hezbollah supporters had protested against any engagement with Israel, holding demonstrations outside Prime Minister Nawaf Salam’s office that denounced him as a “Zionist.”
But the official said the tensions appeared to ease following a joint statement by Hezbollah and its ally the Amal Movement calling for the preservation of civil peace. They emphasized their commitment to “stability” and the protection of civil peace, and warned against being drawn into divisions that, they said, Israel was seeking to provoke. They called on their supporters “not to demonstrate at this sensitive stage the country is going through.”
Hezbollah continued to launch rockets into northern Israel hours after the meeting in Washington, while Israel maintained it would not consider a ceasefire agreement until the group was dismantled.
Mehiedine Chehimi, a professor of international law, said the decision by Lebanese authorities to engage in talks with Israel reflected commitments outlined in President Joseph Aoun’s inaugural address and a government ministerial statement.
“There is a clear effort to position the Lebanese state as the sole authority responsible for negotiations, and that no other party should speak on its behalf,” he told Arab News. “It sends a critical message that Lebanon should not be treated as subordinate to external actors.”
Recent government measures — including a declaration that Hezbollah’s military wing is illegitimate, efforts to confiscate weapons, and the arrest of armed individuals — have helped restore confidence in state institutions, even if implementation efforts remain gradual, Chehimi added.
Such steps require time to implement given Hezbollah’s entrenched presence within the state, he said, but the state nonetheless appears determined to reassert its authority.
Following a meeting with Prime Minister Salam, MP Adib Abdel Massih said that the government was now operating as a unified executive authority after years in which state institutions were overshadowed and fragmented, and was working simultaneously to restore Lebanese sovereignty and end the war.
He also revealed that the prime minister’s office was preparing legal documents to submit to the International Criminal Court seeking an investigation into violations, by all foreign actors, that have taken place in Lebanese territory, and to pursue accountability and compensation for the destruction and loss of life they have caused.
Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah sharply criticized the diplomatic initiative in Washington. During remarks in parliament on Wednesday, he accused Lebanon’s political leadership of “failing the public” and pursuing negotiations that serve Israel’s interests.
He told reporters the meeting over the weekend between the Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors “does not reflect Lebanon’s identity or the choices of its people,” and added that most Lebanese remain opposed to Israel.
Fadlallah also dismissed the government’s assertion that the Lebanese negotiations were separate from broader US-Iran talks, describing them as “an Israeli demand being carried out by Lebanese proxies.”
He insisted that withdrawal was “not in the resistance’s vocabulary,” and said Hezbollah’s fighters continue to carry out operations against Israeli forces, particularly in areas around Bint Jbeil. Israeli forces have yet to establish control over front-line villages, he added, despite intensified military operations and what he described as attacks on civilians.
Avichai Adraee, a spokesperson for the Israeli military, said on Wednesday that the air force struck more than 200 Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon over the past 24 hours, including launch sites, personnel and military infrastructure.
Israeli media also reported that army commanders were pushing to expand ground operations deeper into southern Lebanon as fighting intensified around border towns, including Bint Jbeil. The Israeli army has announced an expansion of its ground campaign and reinforced troop deployments along the border.
Commenting on the broader trajectory, Chehimi, the professor of international law, described the negotiations as likely to be “a long and dangerous process.”
He said the Lebanese state, through its diplomatic efforts, appeared increasingly resilient compared with Hezbollah, and added that efforts to establish state legitimacy were gradually gaining ground despite the militant group’s continuing ability to escalate tensions.
Chehimi also warned of wider regional risks, noting in particular concerns that instability in Iran could lead to more decentralized and unpredictable forms of violence, with potential spillover effects in Lebanon.
