A photo taken from the village of Maroun al-Ras, Bint Jbeil, shows a concrete wall that the Israeli army began building south of the Blue Line on Nov. 12, 2025. (Credit: Rabih Daher/AFP)
BEIRUT — The U.S. embassies in Lebanon and Israel are "committed to Lebanon and Israel moving towards a sustainable and effective peace through diplomacy and dialogue," the U.S. Embassy in Beirut wrote on X on Monday.
The statement added that representatives from both embassies met over the weekend at the U.S. Embassy in Jordan to discuss "steps needed for a more peaceful and prosperous region."
The unusually public statement comes as meetings of the cease-fire “mechanism” in Lebanon — which includes Lebanese and Israeli military and civilian representatives — are temporarily on hold.
Within this framework, Lebanese and Israeli civilian officials held talks in December, the first such contacts in more than 40 years. The announcement also comes amid fears of a possible large-scale Israeli offensive in Lebanon.
Return of southern residents
Lebanon’s civilian representative in the cease-fire mechanism, former diplomat Simon Karam, said Monday that he had proposed the return of displaced residents to southern villages as the basis of Lebanon’s negotiating position with Israel.
“We are committed to the cease-fire mechanism and are calling for it to convene soon,” Karam told Saudi-owned al-Hadath. Two meetings scheduled for January had been postponed.
Thousands of residents remain unable to return to border villages destroyed by Israeli strikes since Oct. 8, 2023. Despite the cease-fire that took effect in late November 2024, reconstruction has yet to begin in heavily hit areas, particularly in south Lebanon and the Bekaa, due to daily Israeli attacks, many of which target reconstruction efforts.
The cost of reconstruction, estimated at several billion dollars, would require international assistance, which donors have linked to Hezbollah’s disarmament.
Karam said the Lebanese Army is the only body tasked with dismantling Hezbollah’s military infrastructure. He added that Hezbollah has not provided the army with information on its weapons or facilities.
Hezbollah has said it is cooperating with the Lebanese state on disarmament south of the Litani River, with support from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in identifying military sites. However, the group has refused to relinquish its arms north of the Litani until Israel withdraws from the five remaining points it occupies in south Lebanon and halts its daily strikes on Lebanese territory.
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