He compared the possibilities for Israeli-Lebanese relations to the Abraham Accords signed with the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco, adding, \u201cI think we can clearly move into Abraham Accords 2.0\u2026 We have to expand the broad relationship of moderation within the Middle East.\u201d<\/p>\n
But \u201cyou can\u2019t move forward,\u201d he continued, \u201cif there is civil war, if there is a foreign influence which is compromising the peace and harmony within the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf there is peace, and we have an agreement over the border,\u201d then Lebanese people can move towards a better future, he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut because we had missiles raining down on our civilians,\u201d he continued, \u201cwe had to move 70,000 people out of their homes for a year. This was very traumatic for the entire country.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hezbollah began firing into Israel on October 8, 2023, a day after the Hamas massacre in southern Israel, forcing an evacuation of civilians from Israel\u2019s northern border.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t go back to a situation where we send men, women and children back to their homes and then we have to remove them again because Hezbollah decides they\u2019re going to start firing missiles at us again,\u201d Leiter said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have no territorial designs in Lebanon,\u201d he insisted. \u201cWe want Lebanon to be secure.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/AFP__20251128__86HT3ZW__v1__HighRes__LebanonIsraelConflictHezbollah-640x400.jpg\")
\n\t\tThis photograph, taken during a press tour organized by the Lebanese army, shows Lebanese soldiers standing atop a military vehicle in Alma Al-Shaab, near the border with Israel in southern Lebanon, on November 28, 2025. (Anwar AMRO \/ AFP)<\/p>\n
Touting recent talks<\/a> between Israeli and Lebanese representatives in Naqoura, the first direct talks between the two countries in decades, Leiter said that he believes that if the two sides \u201csit together and do business,\u201d then the issues between them can be solved.<\/p>\n While the meeting was a major step, the two sides gave different accounts of its content. Ahead of the sit-down, the Prime Minister\u2019s Office called it \u201can initial attempt to create a basis for a relationship and economic cooperation between Israel and Lebanon.\u201d<\/p>\n However, Lebanon\u2019s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam contradicted this, stressing that his country was \u201cfar from\u201d diplomatic normalization or economic relations with Israel.<\/p>\n A second meeting is scheduled for later this month.<\/p>\n \t Amid the new talks, tensions in Lebanon have ratcheted up in recent weeks. The IDF accuses Hezbollah of violating the November 2024 ceasefire and has intensified its strikes against terror group targets, including killing its chief of staff in a rare strike in Beirut last month.<\/p>\n Under the terms of the ceasefire, Hezbollah was required to vacate southern Lebanon, while Israel was given 60 days to do so. The IDF later withdrew from all but five posts along the border with Lebanon, citing the incomplete dismantling of Hezbollah\u2019s infrastructure in the country\u2019s south.<\/p>\n The latest Israel-Hezbollah war began a day after Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, with Hezbollah firing rockets into Israel in solidarity with Hamas. Israel\u2019s response operation, which included bombardment and a ground operation last year, has severely weakened Hezbollah.<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/AFP__20251204__873Y4T4__v1__HighRes__LebanonIsraelConflictUn-640x400.jpg\")
\n\t\tSmoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon on December 4, 2025. (MAHMOUD ZAYYAT \/ AFP)<\/p>\n
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