Israel's ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, will meet with Lebanon's ambassador, Nada Hamadeh, in the American capital on Tuesday.
Ahead of the negotiations, the goal of a lasting peace settlement between the countries has been stated; Lebanon wants to see an immediate ceasefire. The disarmament of the Iran-backed Shiite Hezbollah is a second goal of the negotiations.
Hezbollah is not participating in the talks and has condemned the negotiations in the US as "meaningless." The Shiite militia's position and continued rocket fire into northern Israel could make successful talks more difficult.
Another concern for the talks' success is Israel's continued, deadly airstrikes on Lebanon. Over 300 people were killed and hundreds injured in Israeli attacks, including on central Beirut, on Wednesday, April 8. Israel's attacks last week were unprecedented in the escalating conflict.
Israel has also been carrying out a ground invasion of Lebanon for the past few weeks. Israel states that the attacks were directed at Hezbollah targets.
