Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Apr 9: As the stage is getting set for talks between the United States and Iran in Islamabad on Friday, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that he has authorised direct negotiations with Lebanon “as soon as possible.”
The move comes as a fragile two-week truce between the US, Israel, and Iran hangs by a thread following the intensification of Israel’s military campaign in Lebanon. “In light of Lebanon’s repeated requests to open direct negotiations with Israel, I instructed the cabinet yesterday to begin direct negotiations with Lebanon as soon as possible,” his office wrote in a statement.
“Negotiations will focus on disarming Hezbollah and establishing peace relations between Israel and Lebanon. Israel appreciates today’s call by the Prime Minister of Lebanon to demilitarize Beirut,” the statement added. Netanyahu’s statement comes after Israel launched the largest wave of strikes on Lebanon since the start of its war with Hezbollah on March 2, leaving more than 200 people dead. While Iran has insisted that any ceasefire deal must include Lebanon, both the US and Israel maintain that Lebanon was never part of the initial agreement.
US President Donald Trump had asked Netanyahu in a phone call yesterday to scale back the Lebanon strikes to safeguard the success of Iran talks, media reports said. According to the report, a senior US administration official said the phone call happened after Netanyahu vowed to continue attacking Lebanon on Wednesday.
The development comes as a cloud of uncertainty continued to hang over the US – Iran talks in Islamabad as a key issue ahead of the talks and since the ceasefire was agreed upon remained Lebanon’s inclusion in the truce.
As Beirut witnessed one of its worst attacks from Israel in over 40 years, the Arab country has its eye set on the talks as it seeks help against the ongoing Israeli strikes. Confusion has erupted over Lebanon’s inclusion in the US – Iran truce. While Pakistan’s first statement on the ceasefire called for a halt in all hostilities, including Lebanon, both the US and Israel have denied this.
Meanwhile, Iran has threatened to derail the ceasefire and block the Strait of Hormuz if the attacks against Lebanon continued. Mr Netanyahu has reiterated Tel Aviv’s stance, which is that it will work towards disarming and dismantling Hezbollah, which is an Iranian-backed militant group.
Delegations from the US and Iran will meet in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad on Friday. In the run-up to the talks, Pakistani authorities have declared April 9 and 10 as public holidays in Islamabad as a security measure. Only hospitals, police and other essential utilities will be allowed to operate. From the US, the white House has stated that the American delegation will be led by Vice President JD Vance will be joined by special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law and senior advisor Jared Kushner.
The delegation from Iran is expected to be led by parliament speaker Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf. It remains unclear whether representatives from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, will be part of the delegation.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar are expected to host the talks over the weekend. The involvement of Field Marshal Asim Munir remains unclear, even though it has been speculated that Munir was involved in the negotiations leading up to the ceasefire announcement.
Earlier in the day, as Israel continued to pound Lebanon, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam called on Sharif to confirm its inclusion in the Iran war ceasefire.
In a statement, the PM’s office called on Pakistan to “confirm that the ceasefire includes Lebanon to prevent a recurrence of the Israeli attacks witnessed yesterday.”
Pakistan’s Sharif has also confirmed the call from Salam, stating that Islamabad strongly condemned the truce violations carried out in Beirut. Over 1,500 people in Lebanon, including 130 children, have been killed since Israeli strikes and ground operations started on March 2. As per the Lebanese health ministry, a total of 1,530 people have been killed, which includes 102 women, 130 children, and 57 health workers. Furthermore, around 4,812 people have been wounded due to the strikes and bombardment.
Despite Pakistan claiming that Lebanon was part of the negotiations (and Sharif’s statement on X, which includes Beirut), Israel continues to state otherwise.
Ahead of the talks, Israel’s ambassador to India stated that Tel Aviv did not trust Pakistan as a mediator and would rely on its American counterparts to convey the Israeli message.
“One wouldn’t trust Pakistan. They have been behaving very problematically when it comes to sponsoring terrorism, and they do not recognise our state,” said Israeli envoy Reuven Azar. “The Americans have decided to get their assistance, and that is their choice. We trust our American friends to do whatever is needed and to deal with the challenges we have in front of us,” said Azar.
The Israeli envoy to New Delhi also recalled the US-led ceasefire negotiations in the Gaza Strip, stating that during this time, Washington consulted “problematic countries” such as Turkey and Qatar. “They took facilitation and support from problematic countries such as Turkey and Qatar, which support the Muslim Brotherhood and terrorist organisations in the region,” he said.
“We hope at the end of the day that we achieve the results, and we are going to make sure together with our American friends that these threats are neutralised,” the envoy said.
The US and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire on Wednesday. Moments after this truce was announced, it was declared that the Strait of Hormuz would be reopened. However, Israel stepped in and stated that it would not cease its attacks on Lebanon as it was not part of the two-week truce agreement.