US to host new Israel-Lebanon talks on Thursday: US official

State Department meeting seeks progress between Israel, Lebanon amid unrest

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Counselor of US State Department Michael Needham, US Ambassador to the United Nations Michael Waltz, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa, Lebanese Ambassador to the US Nada Hamadeh Moawad and Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter pose for photos before beginning working-level peace talks at the US State Department on April 14, 2026 in Washington, DC. In their first direct diplomatic talks in more than 30 years, Lebanon and Israel are preparing negotiations to potentially end Israel's conflict with the Lebanese militia Hezbollah. File photo.
Counselor of US State Department Michael Needham, US Ambassador to the United Nations Michael Waltz, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa, Lebanese Ambassador to the US Nada Hamadeh Moawad and Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter pose for photos before beginning working-level peace talks at the US State Department on April 14, 2026 in Washington, DC. In their first direct diplomatic talks in more than 30 years, Lebanon and Israel are preparing negotiations to potentially end Israel's conflict with the Lebanese militia Hezbollah. File photo.
AFP

The United States will host new talks Thursday between Israel and Lebanon aimed at encouraging an agreement, a US official told AFP, after the start of a shaky US-brokered ceasefire.

The talks will take place at the State Department in Washington, again at the level of ambassadors.

"We will continue to facilitate direct, good-faith discussions between the two governments," the State Department official said Monday on customary condition of anonymity.

The ambassadors of Israel and Lebanon, which have no diplomatic relations, met on April 14 at the State Department. 

Three days later, President Donald Trump announced a 10-day truce pausing the war between Israel and Hezbollah, the Shia armed movement that has fired rockets in response to the Israeli-US attack on its patron Iran.

Sporadic violence has continued despite the truce.

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