Lebanese, Israeli leaders to hold talks today: Trump

ALBAWABA - U.S. President Donald Trump announced that leaders of Israel and Lebanon will hold talks on Thursday.

"Trying to get a little breathing room between Israel and Lebanon," Trump revealed Wednesday via Truth Social. Yesterday's meeting between Lebanese and Israeli officials, which was held in Washington, marks the first direct negotiations between senior officials from the two countries since 1993.

The president, however, didn't clarify the leaders who would speak together on Thursday, nor did he give further details on the time of the meeting.

The "leaders" of Israel and Lebanon are set to hold talks on Thursday, US President Donald Trump stated, just days after delegations from the two sides held high-level talks in Washington, in the first such engagement in decades.https://t.co/Tig2WAhgHQ

— Rudaw English (@RudawEnglish) April 16, 2026

This comes amid the United States efforts to ease hostilities after Beirut and Tel Aviv's first direct talks in decades. The Guardian reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was weighing to reach a truce with Hezbollah after pressure from Washington.

Lebanon was pulled into the Middle East war on March 2 after Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed group, attacked Israel following the killing of then-Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in strikes by the U.S. and Israel.

Since then, Israeli strikes have killed over 2,000 people and displaced more than one million in Lebanon. It is worth noting that Israeli ground forces have invaded the country's south and pushed people to leave.