Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam on Wednesday said new negotiations with Israel taking place under the auspices of a ceasefire monitoring mechanism were not broader peace talks, while adding his country was open to the mechanism verifying efforts to disarm Hezbollah.
Israel and Lebanon have technically been at war since 1948, and despite the new diplomatic contact, Salam said in an interview that "we are not yet at peace talks."
He also said Lebanon was "open to verification by the mechanism" when it came to its efforts to disarm Hezbollah.
Israel and Lebanon sent civilian envoys to a military committee monitoring their ceasefire, top officials from both said on Wednesday, in a move set to expand the scope of talks between the long-time foes for the first time.
The meeting was a step towards a months-old US demand that the two countries broaden talks beyond monitoring the 2024 ceasefire, in line with US President Donald Trump's agenda of peace agreements across the Middle East.
It came even as fears of a renewed flare-up between Israel and powerful Lebanese armed group Hezbollah persist.
Lebanon remains officially in a state of war with Israel, and criminalizes contacts with Israeli nationals. Meetings between civilian officials from the two sides have been extraordinarily rare throughout their fraught history.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has said in recent months, however, that he is open to negotiations to pursue a more robust truce and he dispatched a civilian envoy on Wednesday for the first time.
