Israel Opens Negotiation Option with Lebanon, Demands Disarmament of Hezbollah

The Israeli government has opened the option for direct negotiations with Lebanon. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that he has asked his cabinet to begin direct talks with Lebanese representatives. “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,” read a statement from Netanyahu’s office, quoted by AFP on Friday (10/4/2026). Netanyahu said the negotiations with Lebanon would focus on the disarmament of Hezbollah. He stated that his side is open to establishing peaceful relations with the Lebanese government. “The negotiations will focus on the disarmament of Hezbollah and building peaceful relations between Israel and Lebanon. Israel appreciates the Lebanese Prime Minister’s call today for the demilitarisation of Beirut,” added the press release. Israeli media reported that Yechiel Leiter, Israel’s Ambassador to the US, will represent Israel in talks with the Lebanese side. Netanyahu’s statement came one day after Israel launched its largest wave of attacks in Lebanon since the war with Hezbollah began on 2 March, which killed more than 200 people. The Lebanese cabinet on Thursday (9/4) instructed security forces to limit weapons in Beirut to state institutions only, as a warning to Hezbollah. “The army and security forces are asked to immediately begin strengthening the full enforcement of state authority over the Beirut Province and monopolising weapons only in the hands of legitimate authorities,” said Prime Minister Nawaf Salam at the end of the cabinet meeting. The Lebanese government banned Hezbollah’s military activities in early March, shortly after the war with Israel began, but that decision did not stop the Iran-backed group from conducting military operations. Beirut also committed in 2025 to disarming the group, the only one to retain its weapons after Lebanon’s civil war of 1975-1990. In December, Lebanese and Israeli civilian representatives held their first direct talks in decades as part of the ceasefire monitoring mechanism.