Israeli military vehicles cross a cement barrier on the border between Israel and the southern Lebanese village of Dhaira, on Feb. 17, 2025 (Credit: Jalaa Marey/AFP)
The cease-fire monitoring committee met in Naqoura, southern Lebanon, on Tuesday, leading to an agreement to launch "discussions" over the Lebanon-Israel border demarcation, according to a statement from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office.
In exchange for agreeing to launch these discussions, the Israeli army released four Lebanese captives Tuesday evening, with a fifth scheduled for release on Wednesday morning.
During the meeting — the committee's sixth since the cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah came into effect — American, Lebanese, Israeli and French officials, as well as UNIFIL representatives, decided that three working groups would be established to focus on three specific topics: "The five points under [Israeli army] control in southern Lebanon, discussions on the Blue Line and points still in dispute, and the issue of Lebanese detainees being held by Israel," the Israeli statement reads.
"In coordination with the U.S. and as a gesture for the new Lebanese president, Israel agreed to free five Lebanese [detainees]," the statement added, referring to President Joseph Aoun, the former army chief elected in January who is known to be close to the U.S. Later on Tuesday evening, Aoun announced he'd been informed of the freed detainees' arrivals in Lebanon, but made no mention of the border discussions.
The five captives include four civilians and a Lebanese Army soldier. The civilians are Hussein Fares from Maroun al-Ras, Hussein Koteish from Houla, Sayyed Ahmad Shukor from Nabi Sheet, and Mohammad Najem from Nabatieh. The soldier is Ziad Chebli, who is reportedly recovering from surgery having been shot at by Israeli troops while in civilian clothing in the village of Kfar Shuba on March 9.
A diplomatic source told L'Orient Today that the border talks “remain within the framework of the cease-fire monitoring committee," adding that these contacts were "routine" and at a "military level."
The source also pointed out that “these are not political negotiations and the Lebanese government has not been informed.” However, the source did not rule out the possibility that “this information that is circulating is a form of pressure on the Lebanese state to push it towards political negotiations.”
American involvement
A statement released by the Trump Administration said that all the meeting's attendees remained "committed to maintaining the cease-fire agreement and to fully implement all its terms."
"We look forward to quickly convening these diplomat-led working groups to resolve outstanding issues, along with our international partners," the statement reads. The U.S. chairs the cease-fire monitoring committee which was established as part of the truce agreement and tasked with ensuring both sides complied with the deal's terms. Since the cease-fire began, Israel has violated it hundreds of times, killing more than 80 people, systematically destroying villages, and bombing various areas in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa.
Morgan Ortagus, deputy to Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, told Al-Jadeed news that she was optimistic about the talks, and that destroying Hezbollah's weapons arsenal south of the Litani River is included in the agreement, and would give the Lebanese Army exclusive control of the area.
Ortagus announced she had launched “diplomatic working groups” for the “release of Lebanese prisoners” and to “resolve disputes between Lebanon and Israel over the Blue Line,” adding that she was “optimistic about an agreement around the five points,” which Israeli troops continue to occupy past the deadline, extended already once, before which, according to the cease-fire agreement, Israel was meant to have completely withdrawn from Lebanese territory.
“As for the land border agreement,” she said, “there are 13 [geographical] points [of dispute], and I think six of them are still problematic.”
The "Blue Line" that serves as a temporary demarcation between Israel and Lebanon was drawn up in 2000 by the U.N. as part of efforts to ensure Israel's full withdrawal from southern Lebanon. The Blue Line has been the subject of dispute ever since.
Abductions and prisoners of war
Israel freed nine Lebanese "prisoners of war" on Jan. 28, in a transfer facilitated by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as part of the cease-fire agreement. Then-Prime Minister Najib Mikati thanked the ICRC for its involvement while also appealing to the organization to help him secure the release of "nine other Lebanese still held in Israel."
AFP also reported at the time that, according to a source close to Hezbollah, seven of the party's fighters had been captured during the war.
Israeli troops also detained a number of residents attempting to return to their homes following the initial deadline (Jan. 26) for the army's withdrawal from southern Lebanese villages. Some of the captives were released shortly after. On Feb. 2, a Lebanese fisherman, Mohammed Jahir, was abducted by the Israeli army off the coast of Naqoura and remains in captivity.