Second Lebanese-Israeli Talks Today with Civilian Participation

SadaNews - Today, Friday, the region of Naqoura in southern Lebanon is witnessing the second direct talks between Israel and Lebanon during a meeting of the ceasefire monitoring committee between Israel and Hezbollah, also known as the "mechanism" committee.

A source disclosed to Al Arabiya/Al Hadath that the former Lebanese ambassador Simon Karam is the civilian representative of his country at the meeting.

The source added that Israeli National Security Deputy Advisor Yossi Draznin will participate in the meeting alongside Yuri Resnick, the senior director of foreign policy at the Israeli National Security Council, as the second civilian representative from Israel.

Naqoura had witnessed the first direct talks between Israel and Lebanon in decades on December 3.

In the "mechanism" committee meeting, the civilian representatives from Lebanon and Israel were Simon Karam and Yuri Resnick, in addition to U.S. envoy Morgan Ortagus.

This marks the first time since 1983 that Lebanon and Israel have engaged in negotiations led by civilians. Following the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, both sides conducted negotiations that resulted in an agreement to end the war between them and establish a liaison committee, known as the May 17 Agreement. The Lebanese parliament approved this agreement before the executive authority later annulled it.

It is worth noting that the ceasefire agreement reached on November 27, 2024, ended a war lasting more than a year between Hezbollah and Israel.

However, Israel continues to carry out airstrikes on various areas in Lebanon, claiming that they aim to prevent Hezbollah from rebuilding its capabilities after sustaining significant losses in the war.

The ceasefire agreement stipulated an end to hostilities and the withdrawal of Hezbollah to the north of the Litani River, leading to its disarmament throughout Lebanon, as well as the withdrawal of the Israeli army from positions it occupied during the last war.

Nevertheless, Israel maintains five strategic sites within Lebanese territory, while Hezbollah refuses to disarm, indicating that the agreement only considers the border area north of the Litani, according to AFP.

In August, the Lebanese authorities approved a plan to disarm Hezbollah in implementation of the agreement, which the army began to carry out, with the first phase covering the border area with Israel (south of the Litani) set to conclude by the end of the year.