How Israel and Lebanon reached the most important political agreement in 40 years.

U.S. President Donald Trump has dispatched two of his senior envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, to Doha, Qatar, to continue negotiations with Iran aimed at achieving peace. According to White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt, the pair will travel to the Qatari capital this week for high-level meetings while discussions on a previously signed understanding between the U.S. and Iran continue. This move comes after Trump posted on his social media platform, Truth Social, earlier in the day stating that Iran had requested a meeting scheduled for tomorrow in Doha following renewed reciprocal attacks despite an ongoing ceasefire.

However, just before these developments, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi denied that technical talks with the United States would take place this week, asserting that such discussions would occur only when "necessary conditions" were met. Meanwhile, American news outlet Axios reported over the weekend that both countries have agreed to halt their mutual attacks in recent days and meet in Doha this week.

The agreement to resume negotiations was reached on June 21, where both nations committed to continuing talks for 60 days to reach an accord regarding Iran's nuclear program and lasting peace. This followed a memorandum of understanding that brought about a ceasefire after more than 100 days of conflict and allowed the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. However, tensions have escalated again recently after Iranian attacks on ships were followed by U.S. airstrikes targeting military sites along Iran’s southern coast, which Iran responded to with attacks on American bases in Kuwait and Bahrain.

Iran insists on maintaining exclusive control over maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, while Washington threatens to continue its bombing campaign. The situation remains volatile, with both sides showing no signs of backing down.

In a separate but related development, four days of intense negotiations in Washington led to what is being described as the most significant political agreement between Israel and Lebanon in the last 40 years. According to Axios, citing American, Israeli, and Lebanese sources directly involved in the discussions, one of the factors contributing to the convergence of positions between the two parties was their shared concern over the influence of Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The framework of the agreement negotiated under the Trump administration represents the most important political deal between Israel and Lebanon in the past four decades. However, all parties involved are aware that the peace perspective proposed might not materialize. In addition to skepticism, there are deep concerns that the agreement could provoke a violent reaction from Hezbollah, potentially plunging the country back into a civil war.

The agreement appears to contradict some of the understandings reached between the United States and Iran in Switzerland, which could further complicate the fragile ceasefire between the two countries. Recently, Iran has managed to include the situation in Lebanon within its negotiations with the United States, leading to a memorandum of understanding requesting both parties to respect the ceasefire in Lebanon and guarantee the territorial integrity of the country, currently affected by the continued Israeli occupation in southern Lebanon.

During the discussions held last Sunday in Switzerland, the U.S. and Iran agreed to create a new “deconfliction cell,” together with Lebanon and Pakistani and Qatari mediators, to ensure that the ceasefire in Lebanon is respected. This decision shocked both Israeli and Lebanese officials, who viewed it as strengthening Hezbollah and legitimizing Iran’s influence in the country. The news came at a time when Israeli and Lebanese diplomats were preparing for a crucial round of negotiations in Washington.

Critics and distrust marked the first round of discussions. At the meeting on Tuesday at the Department of State, Israeli Ambassador to the U.S., Yechiel Leiter, opened the session with a harsh speech, describing the new U.S.-Iranian agreements regarding Lebanon as a “disaster.” He questioned the American mediators whether Washington was genuinely interested in reducing Iran’s influence in Lebanon, which was also the basis of the Israeli-Lebanese negotiations.

Lebanese representatives asked for clarifications. “The Lebanese were put in a difficult position,” said a source with direct information about the negotiations. Although the American mediators insisted that the goal was to achieve an agreement between Israel and Lebanon without external interference, the first day of discussions was, as recognized by an American official, “quite ugly.” The parties consolidated their positions, especially on security issues, and some participants felt that the negotiations were moving backward rather than forward.

The discussions took place on two levels: one focused on security among military officers, and another on politics among diplomats. Mediation was ensured by high-ranking officials from the Pentagon and the Department of State. Negotiators worked simultaneously on three documents: a framework agreement, a security annex, and a document regarding Israel’s initial withdrawal from two “pilot zones,” which would then be taken over by the Lebanese army.

On Wednesday, the negotiations began to progress, and American officials believed the agreement could be signed the very next day. However, the situation changed again on Thursday. As the day progressed, the parties hardened their positions, and Americans failed to eliminate differences between the three documents to transform them into a single package. The main point of contention was linked to the conditions and locations of Israel’s withdrawals. By Thursday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his team were reportedly considering whether to proceed with the agreement.