The first day of a third round of negotiations between Israel and Lebanon has concluded after eight hours of talks hosted at the US State Department in Washington on Thursday.
Delegations from both countries will meet again on Friday for further discussion.
The talks were “productive and positive,” according to a State Department official. “We look forward to continuing this tomorrow and hope to have more to share then,” the official added.
Before Thursday’s negotiations, an Israeli official told The Jerusalem Post that the talks aim “to discuss a framework for an agreement in greater depth.”
This round of negotiations was the first that was attended by military representatives and came shortly before the expiration of a three-week extension to the ongoing ceasefire deal announced by US President Donald Trump on April 23.
The US mediation of the talks was led by US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s adviser Michael Needham, and US Ambassador to Lebanon Michael Issa.
Israel’s delegation was led by the Israeli ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter, who was accompanied by the IDF Head of Strategy Brig.-Gen. Amichai Levin, a representative from the National Security Council, and the acting Israeli military attaché in Washington.
The Lebanese delegation consisted of Lebanon’s former ambassador to the US, Simon Karam, current Lebanese ambassador Nada Hamadeh Mouawad, and Lebanon’s military attaché in Washington.
