Netanyahu Authorizes Direct Negotiations With Lebanon

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on April 9 that he wants to begin peace talks with Lebanon “as soon as possible.”

“In light of Lebanon’s repeated requests to ​open direct negotiations with Israel, I instructed ​the cabinet yesterday to start direct negotiations with ⁠Lebanon as soon as possible,” Netanyahu wrote in a statement released on Thursday.

The talks would focus on disarming the Hezbollah terrorist group and establishing ​peaceful relations between Israel and Lebanon.

A State Department official told The Epoch Times on Thursday that the United States would host a meeting to discuss ongoing ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Lebanon.

Senior officials in Jerusalem told Epoch Magazine Israel that the negotiations with Lebanon are expected to be conducted under fire. They added that at this stage, Israel does not intend to halt operations against Hezbollah.

The announcement came hours after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) struck suspected terror infrastructure in southern Lebanon.

Netanyahu said the strikes hit crossings allegedly used to transfer thousands of weapons, rockets, and launchers, as well as weapons depots, launchers, and Hezbollah headquarters.

The IDF warned Thursday afternoon that parts of Israel would likely “come under fire” in the coming hours after launches from Lebanese territory happened earlier in the morning.

“The IDF emphasizes that, at this stage, the public should remain vigilant, alert, and act responsibly, while continuing to follow the Home Front Command’s instructions,” the statement read.

The IDF added it was prepared to “operate both defensively and offensively.”

Prime Minister of Lebanon Nawaf Salam accused Israel of expanding its aggressions on April 8 to target densely populated residential neighborhoods, especially in the capital Beirut.

Israeli strikes on Lebanon, which is located north of Israel, have killed an estimated 1,700 people and displaced more than 1 million people.

Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said in an X post on Thursday that the strikes in Lebanon are undermining negotiations.

“If the [United States] wishes to crater its economy by letting Netanyahu kill diplomacy, that would ultimately be its choice. We think that would be dumb but are prepared for it,” Araghchi said.

Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres condemned the strikes by Israel on April 9 that killed more than 300 people.

“With the announcement of the ceasefire between Iran & the USA, the ongoing military activity in Lebanon poses a grave risk to the ceasefire & the efforts toward a lasting & comprehensive peace in the region,” Guterres wrote in an X post.

Guterres urged that hostilities by Israel “stop immediately.”

Reuters contributed to this report.