Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday he has instructed his cabinet to begin direct negotiations with Lebanon, aiming to disarm Hezbollah and establish what he described as "peace relations" between the two countries.
"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 demilitarise Beirut," the press release added.
Israeli media outlets reported that Yechiel Leiter, Israel's ambassador to the U.S., would represent the country in the talks.
The statement came one day after Israel launched its largest wave of strikes on Lebanon since the start of its war with Hezbollah on March 2, killing more than 254 people.
Lebanon's cabinet on Thursday instructed security forces to restrict weapons in Beirut exclusively to state institutions, in a warning to Hezbollah.
"The army and security forces are requested to immediately begin reinforcing the full imposition of state authority over Beirut Governorate and to monopolise weapons in the hands of legitimate authorities alone," Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said at the end of a cabinet meeting.
The Lebanese government banned Hezbollah's military activities at the beginning of March, shortly after the start of the war with Israel, but the decision has not stopped the Iran-backed group from conducting military operations.
Beirut had also committed in 2025 to disarm the group, the only one to keep its weapons after Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war.
In December, Lebanese and Israeli civilian representatives held their first direct talks in decades, part of a cease-fire monitoring mechanism.
Before then, Israel and Lebanon, which have no formal diplomatic relations, had insisted on keeping military officers in the role.
