Published On 4/23/2026
Today, Thursday, US President Donald Trump will participate in a new round of talks between the ambassadors of Lebanon and Israel.
A US official said that the talks, which were initially scheduled to be held at the State Department, “will now be held at the White House, and President Trump will receive representatives of the two countries upon their arrival.”
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Hours before the meeting, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun confirmed that Beirut’s demands during the meeting would be “to extend the ceasefire, and to stop the destruction of homes and attacks on civilians, places of worship, media professionals, and the medical and educational bodies.”
He added, “I hope that I will be able to visit Washington and hold a meeting with Trump to explain the reality of the situation in Lebanon in detail,” stressing that “contacting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was not on my mind at all.”
Meanwhile, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam urged the American administration to exert pressure on Israel with the aim of reducing its demands and ending its occupation of Lebanese lands and other violations.
Nawaf Salam said, in statements to the Washington Post, that Lebanon cannot sign any agreement that does not include a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces, nor can it coexist with what is called a “buffer zone,” where the displaced are not allowed to return to their cities and villages.
The two countries – which have been officially at war since 1948 – held a round of talks in Washington on April 14, which was the first of its kind since 1993.
Two days after those talks, the United States declared a 10-day truce in the war that has killed more than 2,400 people in Lebanon and displaced more than a million.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the Israeli Ambassador to Washington, Yehiel Leiter, and Lebanese Ambassador to the United States, Nada Hamada Moawad, are participating in Thursday’s talks, similar to the previous round, in the presence of the US Ambassador to Lebanon, Michel Issa. She will also be joined this time by the US Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee.
During the first meeting, the two countries agreed to launch direct negotiations “at an agreed-upon place and time,” according to what US State Department spokesman Tommy Pigot announced.
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that negotiations on Lebanon “must include all countries in the region related to its security in order to achieve lasting peace.”
