In a Truth Social post, US President Donald Trump signalled he was working to engineer a diplomatic breakthrough between two of the Middle East adversaries, Israel and Lebanon. "Trying to get a little breathing room between Israel and Lebanon," Trump wrote, adding that the two leaders hadn't spoken "like 34 years" — and that a conversation would happen "tomorrow." He signed off with a trademark: "Nice! President DJT."
On April 14, Israel and Lebanon held their first direct diplomatic talks in decades in Washington, hosted by the US State Department. The rare meeting brought together the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to the United States, along with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other US officials.
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The backdrop is a region on edge. Israel has been conducting an ongoing military action against Hezbollah, which has tested a fragile ceasefire struck on April 8 that paused the US and Israel's war on Iran for two weeks. At Tuesday's meeting, the two sides entered with sharply different priorities — Lebanon pushing for a ceasefire, while Israel has insisted Hezbollah must disarm before any deal, according to an Al Jazeera report.
US Secretary Rubio called the meeting a "historic opportunity" but made clear that no breakthrough agreement would happen right away. Asharq Al-Awsat The State Department described the session as "productive discussions," with both sides agreeing to meet again in Washington in a few weeks.
Whether Trump's diplomatic instincts translate into a lasting agreement remains to be seen. But for a conflict that has been ongoing since 1948, even getting two sides to the same table counts as progress.
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