Israeli and Lebanese Envoys Hold First State Department Talks as Israel Expands Southern Lebanon Buffer Zone During U.S. Hormuz Blockade
5h
Developing
5
Israeli and Lebanese envoys met at the U.S. State Department this week for the first high‑level direct talks in more than three decades, a roughly two‑hour session personally hosted by Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington, D.C. The meeting — framed by U.S. officials as a "historic opportunity" to reduce Hezbollah’s influence — brought Israeli Ambassador Yechiel Leiter and his Lebanese counterparts into the same room even as Hezbollah itself was excluded and has said it will not honor any agreement. Officials described the delegations as united in wanting to push back on Hezbollah’s power, but U.S. and regional diplomats expressed skepticism about whether diplomacy can constrain Israel’s operations while broader U.S.–Iran hostilities unfold, including a U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz.