US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (C), alongside US State Department Counselor Michael Needham (2L) and US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa (2R), looks on during a meeting with Lebanon's Ambassador to the US Nada Hamadeh Moawad (out of frame) and Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter (out of frame) at the State Department in Washington, DC, on April 14, 2026. (Credit: Oliver Contreras/AFP)
Israel and Lebanon agreed to hold direct negotiations after "productive discussions" between the two sides in Washington, the United States said on Tuesday.
"The participants held productive discussions on steps toward launching direct negotiations between Israel and Lebanon," State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in a statement.
"All sides agreed to launch direct negotiations at a mutually agreed time and venue," he said.
The announcement came after Israeli and Lebanese envoys held more than two hours of talks mediated by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
"The United States congratulated the two countries on this historic milestone and expressed its support for further talks, and for the government of Lebanon's plans to restore the monopoly of force and to end Iran's overbearing influence," Pigott said.
And it "affirmed that any agreement to cease hostilities must be reached between the two governments, brokered by the United States, and not through any separate track," he added.
Lebanon was pulled into the region-wide Iran war on March 2 after Hezbollah attacked Israel, against the backdrop of an ostensible cease-fire in place since November 2024, which was near-daily violated by Israel.
Since March, Israeli strikes have killed more than 2,000 people and displaced more than one million, despite international calls for a cease-fire, and Israeli ground forces have invaded southern Lebanon.
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