U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, and Lebanon’s Ambassador to the United States, Nada Hamadeh Moawad, at the State Department in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 2026. (File photo: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
The State Department has confirmed that “intensive and detailed” talks, facilitated by the United States, will take place on 14 and 15 May between the “governments of Israel and Lebanon.”
These will be the first negotiations at the level of government delegations, following two rounds of talks at ambassadorial level on 14 and 23 April. In a statement published on the U.S. State Department’s website, spokesperson Thomas Pigott emphasized that the two delegations “will engage in detailed discussions aimed at advancing a comprehensive peace and security agreement that substantially addresses the fundamental concerns of both countries.”
The alleged aim of these discussions is to establish a “framework for lasting peace and security arrangements, the full restoration of Lebanese sovereignty over all its territory, the demarcation of borders, and the creation of concrete mechanisms for humanitarian aid and reconstruction in Lebanon.”
“The United States welcomes the commitment of both governments to this process and recognizes that comprehensive peace depends on the full restoration of the authority of the Lebanese state and the complete disarmament of Hezbollah,” added Pigott.
A State Department official had already announced the date of these upcoming negotiations on Thursday and, in anticipation of these talks, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on the same day met with Simon Karam, the head of the negotiating delegation. Beirut is insisting on a halt to Israeli attacks against Lebanon before any meeting with the Israelis, as the situation continues to escalate in southern Lebanon in recent days.
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