Israel and Lebanon appear to be entering a new diplomatic phase, as recent developments suggest the possibility of formal peace negotiations. However, this shift is layered with internal political tensions in Lebanon and pressure from Iran, particularly concerning the role of Hezbollah.
Israel And Lebanon To Join US-Mediated Talks
Israel's ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, held a first-ever phone call with his Lebanese counterpart, Nada Hamadeh Moawad, over the weekend. Following the conversation, Leiter announced that Israel would begin official peace talks with Lebanon next week.
"In the conversation earlier today in Washington between the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to Washington, together with the US ambassador to Lebanon, and under the auspices of the US State Department, Israel agreed to begin formal peace negotiations this coming Tuesday," he said in a statement.
The development comes a day after Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam postponed his planned visit to the United States and the United Nations, citing "current internal circumstances", which many view as an indirect reference to the situation in southern Lebanon. He added that he would remain in Beirut "to oversee government work and safeguard the security of Lebanese people and their unity."
Iran's Warning
This announcement was preceded by a strong warning from Iran against sidelining Hezbollah in any engagement with Israel. An adviser to Iran's supreme leader, Ali Akbar Velayati, cautioned on X that Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam "should know that ignoring the unique role of the resistance and the heroic Hezbollah will expose Lebanon to irreparable security risks".
He further emphasised that "Lebanon's stability rests exclusively on cohesion between the government and the resistance," underlining Iran's strategic interest in maintaining Hezbollah.
Hezbollah's Complex Role In Lebanon
Hezbollah - designated as a terrorist organisation by the US State Department - is also a political party and self-described "resistance movement" against Israeli aggression that wields significant influence in Lebanese politics and society. Founded during the Lebanese civil war, the group has fought multiple wars with Israel.
On March 2, two days after the US and Israel strikes on Iran, Hezbollah launched a barrage of missiles towards Israel, seeking revenge for the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as what it calls "repeated Israeli aggressions" in Lebanon.
This marked a renewed escalation, 15 months after a US-brokered ceasefire halted hostilities that began following the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led deadly attack on southern Israel.
Top Leaders Call For Hezbollah's Disarmament
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has openly criticised Hezbollah's actions, stating that the group shows "no regard for the interests of Lebanon or the lives of its people."
Earlier in January, he described the organisation's continued possession of weapons outside state control as "a burden" on the country. "The role of weapons outside the state has ended with the presence of the Lebanese army in the south," Aoun said, adding that such arms "no longer serves as a deterrent against Israel."
In September 2025, the Lebanese government had formally approved a phased plan to consolidate all weapons under state control, starting in the south before expanding nationwide.
This aligns with international and US-backed demands to enforce Lebanese sovereignty.
Aoun also stressed the importance of diplomacy over military confrontation with Israel, noting that past wars yielded "zero per cent" progress, whereas diplomatic engagement offers a "50 per cent chance" of advancing Lebanon's security and territorial goals.
This is not the first time a top leader has talked of disarming Hezbollah; the issue has resurfaced multiple times in Lebanese politics.
Former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri spoke of eroding Hezbollah's grip gradually by disarming it and absorbing it into the Lebanese political landscape.
Such a proposal, according to Nada Bakri - a journalist based in Cambridge - was not based on unrealistic ideals but grounded in practical wisdom - aiming to weaken the militia not through confrontation but by making it redundant.
However, disarming Hezbollah is not as easy as it seems.
A Legitimate Political Party?
The US special envoy for Syrian affairs, Tom Barrack, told Al Jazeera in a 2025 interview that Hezbollah is "a legitimate political party in Lebanon", adding that it derives legitimacy from a confessional power-sharing system, where political position is divided among religious sects.
Besides maintaining a comfortable visibility of Lebanese parliamentary politics, Hezbollah retains significant influence over the lives of common people in areas beyond the reach and authority of government.
The US Department of State in its 2024 human rights report on Lebanon accused Hezbollah of running unofficial detention facilities where it unlawfully incarcerated individuals, apart from unleashing violence with impunity against its critics and opponents.
Locals Collaborate With The Armed Group
Hezbollah's strength lies not only in its uniform-donning full-time fighters alone but also in its deep social networks and local supporters who assist it in covert and silent ways.
When a ground reporter from the Washington Post asked one of the individuals attending the funeral of those killed in the Sep 2024 Pager Attack in Beirut's southern suburbs why some civilians had accepted pagers from the extremist organisation, the man replied, "In this area, everyone is part of the resistance."
Another individual, who admitted to having close ties to Hezbollah and agreed to speak to the Washington Post under the condition of anonymity, revealed that ordinary citizens who hold regular jobs but co-operate when needed are "the most vital in the ranks of Hezbollah".
According to Joseph Bahout, director of the Institute of Public Policy at the American University in Beirut, Hezbollah is "not a small clandestine militia; it's a sort of a society in arms."
The shia'te fighter group also seeks to position itself as a ray of hope for those Lebanese Shi'ites who feel marginalised and neglected by the government.
Strategic Calculations And Ongoing Tensions
According to Hanin Ghaddar, the Friedmann Senior Fellow at The Washington Institute's Rubin Family Arab Politics Program, the reason why Hezbollah manages to regenerate itself after every war is its proximity to an ecosystem of power that provides its sufficient political and financial backing.
Even if Israel managed to eliminate most of the group's military infrastructure, Hezbollah could regenerate through its financial cash system and its control over key positions within the Lebanese state institutions.
According to Gaddar, Hezbollah's recent missile strikes into northern Israel were not merely retaliatory but strategic - intended to drag Israel into a broader conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon, in the hope of distracting the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) from Iran by opening a second front.
Meanwhile, Israel has repeatedly accused Hezbollah of deliberately embedding weapons and command centers in densely populated civilian neighbourhoods, increasing the risks for non-combatants.
(Edited by NDTV intern Anoushka Tyagi)
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
