Foreign & Public Diplomacy

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at diplomatic efforts to end the Israel-Hezbollah war in Lebanon, the United Kingdom paying France to curb unauthorized English Channel crossings, and a vote to renew funding for U.S. immigration enforcement agencies.

Beirut’s Precarious Position

The United States hosted a second round of ambassador-level talks between Israel and Lebanon in Washington on Thursday aimed at ending Israel’s war with Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy group. The main objective of this week’s dialogue, mediated by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, was to extend the two sides’ 10-day cease-fire, which was established during initial negotiations in Washington last Tuesday and is set to expire on Sunday.

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at diplomatic efforts to end the Israel-Hezbollah war in Lebanon, the United Kingdom paying France to curb unauthorized English Channel crossings, and a vote to renew funding for U.S. immigration enforcement agencies.

Beirut’s Precarious Position

The United States hosted a second round of ambassador-level talks between Israel and Lebanon in Washington on Thursday aimed at ending Israel’s war with Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy group. The main objective of this week’s dialogue, mediated by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, was to extend the two sides’ 10-day cease-fire, which was established during initial negotiations in Washington last Tuesday and is set to expire on Sunday.

Beirut’s delegation entered Thursday’s meeting with two goals: to extend the truce deal and get Israel to halt its demolitions in southern Lebanon, according to Lebanese President Joseph Aoun. However, he said the broader conversations are aimed at launching negotiations that would see a permanent end to the war, the Israeli military’s withdrawal from occupied territory, the return of Lebanese detainees in Israel, and the delineation of the two countries’ ​land border.

“Lebanon can no longer endure wars fought on its soil on behalf of others, nor can Hezbollah continue to sell the illusion of victory,” Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi wrote on X on Thursday. “There is no shame in negotiating with Israel if the goal is to end the war, recover territory, and secure a lasting peace.”

Yet experts suspect that little progress toward a more comprehensive deal will come from Thursday’s talks, largely because Hezbollah remains opposed to........

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