US envoy to Lebanon and Syria Tom Barrack has said that Israel is ready to reach a border agreement with Lebanon, urging Lebanese leaders to “join the negotiations and safeguard their sovereignty.”
Yet Israel has not responded to Lebanese President Joseph Aoun’s initiative to launch talks, which includes a new incentive: preliminary approval for adding civilian technical experts to Lebanon’s military delegation should the need arise.
In recent weeks, Lebanon has sought to ease the path toward discussions that could resolve the persistent security tensions along its southern border. Beirut has declared its readiness to engage in dialogue, provided that talks remain indirect and exclude any form of diplomatic or political representation, according to senior government sources, who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat. So far, however, mediators say no official response has arrived from Tel Aviv.
The United States and other international partners have been working to close the gap between the two sides. Addressing the Manama Dialogue security forum on Saturday, Barrack said that Israel is ready to reach an agreement with Lebanon, adding that the Lebanese must join the negotiations and protect their borders.
He further described Lebanon as “a failed state,” warning that its army suffers from a severe lack of financial and human resources. He noted that Hezbollah earns more money than the Lebanese Armed Forces and that thousands of rockets in southern Lebanon continue to threaten Israel.
Barrack said Lebanon’s leadership must act more decisively to contain Hezbollah’s weapons, insisting that there will be no problem between Lebanon and Israel once Hezbollah is disarmed. He cautioned that Israel may respond inside Lebanon depending on developments.
Although Israel has yet to signal readiness for talks, Beirut has presented what officials describe as a “technical incentive” aimed at reviving diplomacy. The government has agreed in principle to allow civilian technical experts - engineers and cartographers, not diplomats or politicians - to join its military negotiating team if needed. The arrangement would apply to the five-party mechanism overseeing the November 2024 cessation-of-hostilities agreement, to help verify and clarify disputed boundary points.
Officials say this approach draws on Lebanon’s previous experience in the maritime border talks with Israel between October 2020 and October 2022, when a technical delegation participated in indirect negotiations hosted by the United Nations in Naqoura under US mediation. Beirut believes the same formula could help settle outstanding land-border disputes.
Aoun, who under Lebanon’s constitution holds the authority to negotiate international treaties, reiterated that his country is “ready for negotiations to end the Israeli occupation,” but stressed that “any talks must be based on mutual will, which does not yet exist.” The form, timing, and venue of any negotiations, he added, would be determined later.
Lebanon’s official stance rules out any direct negotiations with Israel or the participation of political or diplomatic figures, confining the process to military representatives. This format satisfies Hezbollah, which rejects direct engagement, while Israel has pushed for talks led by political or diplomatic officials to broaden their scope beyond technical and security issues.
The head of the Lebanese Forces Party, Samir Geagea, countered that the real issue “is not whether Lebanon is represented by soldiers or civilians,” but rather “the fundamental decision the state must take is to dismantle all illegal armed groups on Lebanese soil.”
He stressed that without such a move, “everything else remains a waste of precious time, which Lebanon urgently needs to build a real state, achieve lasting stability, and revive its economy and national prosperity.”
