"Lebanon and Israel, for the first time, sent civilian representatives to a meeting of a previously military-only ceasefire monitoring mechanism. The mechanism was set up after the latest war between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah ended over a year ago. The talks on Wednesday were held at the headquarters of the UN peacekeeping force, UNIFIL, in Naqoura, near Lebanon's southern border."
"Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said Lebanon is far from normalizing ties with Israel and remains committed to the 2002 Arab Peace Plan, which links diplomatic relations with Israel to the creation of a Palestinian state, a condition Israel's government rejects. "Economic relations would be part of such normalization, so then obviously anyone following the news would know that we are not there at all," Salam said. Israel and Lebanon have technically been at war since 1948"
Lebanon and Israel sent civilian representatives for the first time to a previously military-only ceasefire monitoring mechanism established after the most recent war with Hezbollah. The meeting took place at UNIFIL headquarters in Naqoura near Lebanon's southern border. The United States seeks direct, structured talks between the two states, but leaders in both countries express reservations and they lack diplomatic relations. Lebanon remains committed to the 2002 Arab Peace Plan tying normalization to a Palestinian state, and economic ties are conditional on that. Israel described the talks as positive and proposed exploring economic cooperation while insisting that Hezbollah must disarm. Lebanon says it will disarm Hezbollah starting in the south, but Hezbollah demands Israeli withdrawal and an end to attacks before full disarmament.
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