Israel, Lebanon agree to talks on border

TEL AVIV

Israel has begun negotiations with Lebanon to demarcate their border and withdraw from five outposts in southern Lebanon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has confirmed.

The declaration followed a four-way meeting in Naqoura involving representatives from the Israeli military, the U.S., France and Lebanon, Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.

The statement said the Naqoura talks resulted in an agreement to form “three joint working groups” aimed at stabilizing the region.

These groups will focus on key issues, including the Israeli withdrawal from five points in south Lebanon, as well as revisiting the original pre-war land border between Israel and Lebanon, the statement detailed.

The negotiations will also address “the release of saboteurs detained since the war began and held in Israel,” the statement noted.

“In coordination with the U.S. and as a gesture to the new Lebanese president, Israel agreed to release five Lebanese detainees,” the statement added.

Following the announcement, the Red Cross received five Lebanese detainees from Israel.

A fragile ceasefire has been in place in Lebanon since Nov. 27, ending months of cross-border warfare between Israel and Hezbollah that escalated into a full-scale conflict last September.

Speaking on the recent development, a senior Israeli official said that Israel’s aim in the new talks with Lebanon is “to reach normalization.”

The two countries do not recognize each other. The next meeting will be between the political echelons of Israel and Lebanon, says the official. “This means official Israeli diplomacy within Lebanon.”

The March 11 meeting was military-to-military.

Katz threats Syria during Mount Hermon visit

Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz stated that the Syrian regime will witness an indefinite deployment during his visit to the heights of Mount Hermon, which Israeli forces captured as part of a buffer zone inside Syria last year.

“Every morning when [Syrian President] al-Jolani [Ahmed al-Sharaa] opens his eyes at the presidential palace in Damascus, he will see the Israeli Defense Forces watching him from the peak of the Hermon and remember that we are here and in the entire security area of southern Syria, to protect the Golan and Galilee residents against any of his threats and those of his jihadist friends,” he said.

“The IDF is prepared to stay in Syria for an unlimited amount of time. We will hold the security area in Hermon and make sure that all the security zone in southern Syria is demilitarized and clear of weapons and threats,” the defense minister added.

The Israeli army has established two military posts on the top of Mount Hermon in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights.

The IDF has also decided to establish a coordination unit, managed by COGAT, which is responsible for the government's activities in the region. This unit will focus on establishing connections with the Druze population in villages near the border in Syria.

Starting from next week, Israel will allow the Syrian Druze population in the IDF-controlled area to enter and work in Israel.

The Israeli military has also begun repairing the infrastructure of some of Druze villages, including water lines and access to medical services. Later, the military will permit the reunification of families that were separated under the former Syrian regime.