Israel and Lebanon to Hold Direct Talks Over Disarming Hezbollah, Border Security
Netanyahu: “The negotiations will focus on the disarmament of Hezbollah and the establishing of peaceful relations between Israel and Lebanon.”
Update: Prime Minister Netanyahu addressed the nation later in the evening, stating that no ceasefire with Hezbollah is imminent and that military operations against the terrorist group in Lebanon will continue.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:
"Dear residents of the North, I am proud of you. You continue to stand firm.
I wish to inform you: There is no ceasefire in Lebanon. We are continuing to strike Hezbollah with full force, and we will not stop until we restore your security. pic.twitter.com/k2JeKXEMBQ
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) April 9, 2026
Israel has initiated peace talks with Lebanon, aimed at disarming the Iranian proxy terrorist group Hezbollah, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Thursday afternoon.
“In light of Lebanon’s repeated requests to open direct negotiations with Israel, I instructed at the Government meeting yesterday to open direct negotiations with Lebanon as soon as possible,” he said in a statement. “The negotiations will focus on the disarmament of Hezbollah and the establishing of peaceful relations between Israel and Lebanon.”
Ahead of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s statement, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun had called for ‘direct talks’ with Israel, setting an immediate ceasefire as a precondition, the BBC reports:
Shortly before Netanyahu announced that he’d told his cabinet to start direct talks with Lebanon, we also heard from the Lebanese President Joseph Aoun.
In a statement posted on X, he said the “only solution” is a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, followed by “direct negotiations” between them.
Aoun also said his country’s security forces have been “carrying out their work fully to enforce security, despite the “difficult circumstances they are facing”.
🚨🚨 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: In light of Lebanon’s repeated requests to open direct negotiations with Israel, I instructed yesterday to begin direct negotiations with Lebanon as soon as possible. The negotiations will focus on disarming Hezbollah and establishing…
— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) April 9, 2026
In early March, Hezbollah entered the war on behalf of Iran, dragging Lebanon into the war. Hezbollah chief, Naim Qassem, declared that the pro-Iranian terror group was in “existential battle” against Israel.
On March 11, the terrorist group escalated the conflict by launching operation “Eaten Straw,” invoking Quranic verses referring to the supposed defeat of a Christian army at the hands of the Arabs in the 6th century. Throughout the conflict, Iran and Hezbollah have been conducting coordinated missile attacks, aimed at overwhelming air defense systems protecting Israeli population centers.
Later in the evening, Prime Minister Netanyahu addressed the nation,
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:
"Dear residents of the North, I am proud of you. You continue to stand firm.
I wish to inform you: There is no ceasefire in Lebanon. We are continuing to strike Hezbollah with full force, and we will not stop until we restore your security. pic.twitter.com/k2JeKXEMBQ
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) April 9, 2026
Netanyahu: Israel responding to Hezbollah’s aggression with “force, precision and determination”
The Israeli offer comes as Hezbollah continues to fire missiles and drones at its towns and cities.
The military is responding to the Lebanon-based terrorist group with “force, precision, and determination,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier on Thursday.
“We are continuing to strike Hezbollah with force, precision, and determination,” he wrote on X in Hebrew. “Our message is clear: anyone who acts against Israeli civilians – we will strike them. We will continue to hit Hezbollah wherever necessary until we fully restore security to the residents of the north [of Israel].”
אנחנו ממשיכים להכות בחיזבאללה בעוצמה, בדיוק ובנחישות.
בביירות חיסלנו את עלי יוסף חרשי, מזכירו האישי של מזכ״ל ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה נעים קאסם ואחד האנשים הקרובים אליו ביותר.
במקביל, הלילה תקף צה״ל שורת תשתיות טרור בדרום לבנון: מעברים ששימשו להעברת אלפי אמצעי לחימה, רקטות… pic.twitter.com/tKGuRJKBIE
— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) April 9, 2026
Hezbollah terror chief’s right-hand man killed in Israeli strike
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) was targeting Hezbollah’s terrorist infrastructure and leadership, eliminating Ali Yusuf Harshi, the right-hand man to Hezbollah chief Qassem, Prime Minister Netanyahu announced.
“Harshi was a close associate and personal advisor to Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem and played a central role in managing and securing his office,” the IDF said in a statement earlier.
Ynetnews reported Netanyahu’s remarks:
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that Israel is continuing to strike Hezbollah “with force, precision and determination,” saying an overnight operation in Beirut killed a close aide to the group’s leader and that the military also struck a series of Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon.
“In Beirut, we eliminated Ali Yusuf Harshi, the personal secretary of Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem and one of the people closest to him,” Netanyahu said.
He said the IDF also struck a series of Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon overnight, including crossings used to transfer thousands of weapons, rockets and launchers, as well as weapons depots, launch sites and command centers.
“Our message is clear: Whoever acts against Israeli civilians will be hit,” Netanyahu said. “We will continue striking Hezbollah wherever required until we restore full security to the residents of the north.”
Prime Minister Netanyahu backed President Donald Trump’s decision to halt strikes against Iran for two weeks, given that the regime agrees to the terms set by Washington. “Israel supports President Trump’s decision to suspend strikes against Iran for two weeks subject to Iran immediately opening the straits and stopping all attacks on the US, Israel and countries in the region,” the Israeli Prime Minister said on Wednesday. He added that the “two-week ceasefire does not include Lebanon.”
IDF eliminates Hezbollah-linked commander in Lebanon
The Israeli military also eliminated a commander of Hezbollah-linked Lebanese Resistance Brigades.
On Wednesday, “the IDF, acting on intelligence, struck and eliminated Maher Qassem Hamdan, the Commander of the Lebanese Resistance Brigades terrorist organization in the Chebaa area in southern Lebanon,” the Israeli military revealed. “Hamdan was responsible for terrorist recruitment, weapons supply, and funding the Lebanese Resistance Brigades in Chebaa.”
The terrorist outfit is “funded by the Hezbollah terror organization and is connected to it directly” and takes part in “executing terror activities against IDF troops and Israeli civilians,” the military noted.
South Lebanon: IDF troops fighting Hezbollah in close quarters
Besides precision strikes aimed at eliminating Hezbollah’s leadership, Israeli troops were advancing in southern Lebanon. The IDF’s 162nd armoured division, also known as the “steel formation,” was engaging the enemy deep inside the hostile territory.
“Troops of the 162nd Division are continuing targeted ground operations in southern Lebanon,” the IDF announced on Thursday. “As part of the activity, troops from the 401st Brigade located a shaft leading to underground infrastructure from which a terrorist emerged and was eliminated in close-quarters combat.”
With this forward deployment of troops, the IDF wants to create a security zone in southern Lebanon up to the Litani River. This would deny Hezbollah strategic heights for firing mortars and anti-tank missiles at Israeli troops and civilians in northern Israel.
“Overnight, the IDF struck two key crossings used by Hezbollah terrorists and commanders for movement from north to south of the Litani River in Lebanon to transfer thousands of weapons, rockets, and launchers,” the military disclosed. “Furthermore, approximately 10 weapons storage facilities, launchers, and command centers used by the Hezbollah terrorist organization in southern Lebanon were struck.”
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Comments
ha!
the lebanese christians can only fight on with the help of ground stationed israel troops..
the UN is somehow allowed to control whether or not that can happen
so israel always has to pullback
the area is like trying to elect a wht conservative in oakland /san francisco etc
This is good news. With the Jews and Lebanon in direct peace talks that makes it impossible for Iran to justify continued attacks on Israel and makes it impossible for the left to justify the supporter of those continued attacks.
Perhaps we are closer to peace in the Middle East than we thought?!? 🤷♂️
Meanwhile, what’s the point of the UN?
The Lebanese government doesn’t control its own country. It hasn’t in probably at least 50 years. There is no reason to believe these talks are anything except to screw with Iran which has never needed any justifications to do anything it wants to. They are worse than a paper tiger.
I don’t believe there will ever be peace in the middle east while Islam exists. Even if Islam were to disappear tomorrow there likely wouldn’t be peace because of China and Russia. They love to mess with the US and creating crisis in the middle east for us is a cheap way for them to do so,
There is no point to the UN and many have commented on here including myself.
“Meanwhile, what’s the point of the UN?”
You ask some hard questions.
I thought Hezbollah was the actual government of Lebanon….
Yes, you are correct. Hezbollah is so embedded in the Lebanese government and almost all aspects of civil society, I don’t know how Lebanon can route them out? Iran has infiltrated all aspects of Lebanese society and the rest of the non-Iran controlled Lebanese government is simply too weak to do anything about it. Maybe Israel can disarm them to some extent, but as long as Iran remains a player, they will just keep rearming them.
Lifted from X:
The book On Strategy by Colonel Harry Summers opens with this exchange:
“You know you never defeated us on the battlefield,” said the American colonel.
The North Vietnamese colonel pondered this remark a moment. “That may be so,” he replied, “but it is also irrelevant.”.
Trump should make a statement that the talks with Iran have included a conversation about renaming some of their sunken ships, and that he as suggested “The Swalwell”.
Here’s a full translation of the tweet: