Israel has rejected diplomatic overtures by Lebanon to halt its escalating offensive against the Hizbollah militant group, demanding that negotiations only take place “under fire”, said three people with knowledge of the matter, FT reports.
The talks, mooted to be held in Cyprus, have not materialised because of disagreements over sequencing, with Beirut demanding there be a “cessation of fire” before any meeting takes place and the Israeli government wanting only to discuss the possibility of a cessation, two of the people added.
The Lebanese “are ready to talk to Israel, but under the condition of a cessation of fire. Not a ceasefire, but a cessation . . . so talks can get going in Cyprus,” said one of the people. “Israel has so far refused and says it will only negotiate ‘under fire’.”
Violence erupted last week between Israel and the Lebanon-based Hizbollah, with the militant movement firing rockets at northern Israel after the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.
Israel has responded with waves of air strikes across the country, including Beirut, and has pushed additional forces into a self-declared “buffer zone” in southern Lebanon. According to Lebanese authorities, 570 people have died in Israeli strikes over the past week. The Israeli military said it had killed more than 200 Hizbollah operatives over the same period.
The hostilities are the most serious eruption of violence since a US-brokered ceasefire in November 2024 nominally ended a year of open conflict between Israel and Hizbollah that culminated in Israeli forces launching a full-scale ground invasion of its northern neighbour.
Despite the truce, Israel continued to carry out near-daily strikes on Hizbollah, arguing that the Iran-backed group’s disarmament — which Israel, the US and the Lebanese government expected as part of the deal but which Hizbollah never expressly agreed to — was not proceeding quickly enough.
The FT this week reported Israeli officials were now preparing for a campaign against Hizbollah that could last longer than the war with Iran in a drive to ensure the Lebanese group would no longer pose a threat to communities in northern Israel that were evacuated in previous rounds of fighting.
Axios first reported on the potential of Israel-Lebanon talks taking place in Cyprus.
A second person with knowledge of the matter said negotiations were being prepared with Israeli and Lebanese officials “around one table” — a rarity between the two longstanding enemy states.
Cyprus could also potentially mediate the talks if they take place, said one of the people familiar with the matter. France is also aware of the diplomatic efforts, the person added, while senior US officials are not fully supportive of the talks.
