Israel-Lebanon Fifth Round Begins as U.S.-Iran MOU Complicates Lebanon Track

Israel and Lebanon convened their fifth round of U.S.-mediated peace talks in Washington this week, even as a freshly signed memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran inserted Tehran into a diplomatic process Beirut and Jerusalem had been negotiating on a separate bilateral track. The concurrent proceedings have produced a jurisdictional ambiguity: who controls the Lebanon file, and on what legal basis does Iran hold a seat at any implementation table?

The fifth round of talks, held at the State Department, brought delegations together for at least four days of U.S.-mediated negotiations. According to a delegation manifest reported by POLITICO, the U.S. side included State Department Counselor Dan Holler, Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa, Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs Jake McGee, State Department senior adviser Jay Mens, and Matt Valnoski, Middle East director at the National Security Council [POLITICO]. An unnamed U.S. official told POLITICO that Holler and Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Daniel Zimmerman opened the session [POLITICO]. Lebanon was represented by former ambassador Simon Karam, Ambassador Nada Mouawad, and Deputy Chief of Mission Wissam Boutros [POLITICO]. The Israeli delegation was led by Ambassador Yechiel Leiter. Additional Israeli representatives identified on the manifest included Deputy National Security Adviser Joseph Draznin, Brig. Gen. Amichai Levin, the Israeli military's head of strategic planning, military attaché Brig. Gen. Arik Ben Dov, and Noa Ginosar, the embassy's minister-counselor for the Middle East [POLITICO].

The hostilities underlying these talks erupted in early March, when Hezbollah fired missiles across the border two days after the U.S. and Israel launched military operations against Iran, and Israel responded with a bombing campaign and ground invasion. Since then, Israeli strikes have killed at least 4,057 people in Lebanon and wounded more than 12,121. Israel has been preparing for a long-term occupation of southern Lebanon to prevent Hezbollah from operating near Israel's northern border. Those competing facts establish the negotiating context: Lebanon seeks a ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal; Israel demands assurances of Hezbollah's disarmament before any military drawdown.

One proposal under active consideration before this week's round was the establishment of "pilot zones" that would allow the Lebanese Armed Forces to regain control over certain Israeli-occupied areas. Under a framework agreement reached June 26 and brokered by the United States, the two countries agreed to implement security measures under which Israeli Defense Forces would withdraw from southern Lebanon and be replaced by units of the Lebanese Armed Forces, who would oversee the disarmament of Hezbollah's armed units. After a rocky start and a several-hour delay before the closing ceremony, Lebanon and Israel ultimately signed a framework agreement on June 26, described as the first accord between the two neighbors since the short-lived May 1983 peace agreement.

The bilateral track now runs directly into the U.S.-Iran MOU, signed approximately June 17. Point 1 of the 14-point agreement states that the United States and Iran, along with their allies, declare "the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon," and that the final deal will "confirm the permanent termination of the war on all fronts, including in Lebanon." The MOU sets a 60-day window, extendable by mutual consent, to negotiate a final deal. Secretary of State Marco Rubio had been working to keep the U.S.-Iran war and the Israel-Hezbollah conflict on separate diplomatic tracks, but the first point of the MOU directly addresses Lebanon, bypassing those efforts. Israeli officials characterized the inclusion of Lebanon in the MOU as a concession to Iran by Trump's envoys.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun disclosed the contours of a proposed trilateral oversight mechanism. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Rubio called Aoun to convey that the United States was following up on understandings reached in Switzerland, including plans to consolidate a ceasefire in Lebanon, with the statement noting that arrangements for an implementation mechanism are still being discussed. Aoun's readout described a proposed task force comprising the United States, Lebanon, and Iran to consolidate the ceasefire and oversee implementation of related measures [POLITICO]. Rubio, speaking to reporters in Abu Dhabi during a June 23-25 Gulf visit, stressed that Lebanon ceasefire discussions are "separate" from Iran talks, adding: "Lebanon is a sovereign country. It has a government. And when it comes to Lebanon and what's happening inside of Lebanon, we're going to negotiate a deal directly with the Lebanese Government." He nonetheless acknowledged that Iran's support for Hezbollah "will be discussed as part of our conversations with the Iranians" [POLITICO].

That tension sits at the center of the current debate in Washington. David Schenker, who served as Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs during the first Trump administration, told POLITICO that Iran's prospective role in any implementation mechanism undercuts Lebanese sovereignty and has demoralized Lebanese who had hoped these talks would reduce Tehran's influence [POLITICO]. Former CENTCOM Commander Gen. Joseph Votel, also speaking to POLITICO, identified a structural conflict of interest: Lebanon wants Israeli forces out and full territorial sovereignty restored, while Israel wants durable security guarantees against future Hezbollah attacks. Iran's regional network is unlikely to be a central subject of near-term U.S.-Iran negotiations, yet unresolved issues tied to Lebanon and regional security arrangements could still complicate implementation of the MOU. Votel's assessment, reported by POLITICO, is that Iran will use the 60-day MOU window to press hard on Lebanon-related issues on Hezbollah's behalf, seeking to front-load those demands before the harder nuclear and sanctions questions dominate the final-deal negotiations.

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