Lebanon’s Ambassador to the U.S. Nada Hamadeh Moawad left this week’s Washington talks with a carefully worded statement calling for a ceasefire, the return of displaced persons, and full implementation of the November 2024 cessation of hostilities. Hezbollah was not mentioned once.
That absence was striking. The entire Washington framework for any deal with Lebanon is built around Hezbollah’s disarmament. Israel has made it a condition for any agreement. The Trump administration has said the same. Moawad sat in that meeting and produced a statement that does not engage with any of it.
A Lebanese diplomatic source confirmed to MBN the points Moawad issued following the talks, in which she described the meeting as a constructive preliminary meeting and extended thanks to the U.S. administration for hosting the meeting and facilitating the discussions. She reaffirmed the urgent need for the full implementation of the cessation of hostilities announcement of November 2024, underscored the need to preserve territorial integrity and state sovereignty, and called for a ceasefire and the return of displaced persons to their homes. She also called for the adoption of practical measures to alleviate the severe humanitarian crisis that Lebanon continues to endure as a result of the ongoing conflict. She added that the date and location of the next meeting would be announced in due course.
Israeli Ambassador Yechiel Leiter, speaking after the same meeting, framed it in entirely different terms. Leiter called the talks a “crushing victory over Hezbollah,” said Lebanon had made clear it would no longer be “occupied” by the group, and built his entire account around the militia’s disarmament and removal. He also stated that France has no role in these talks.
Moawad’s statement addresses none of that. Hezbollah does not appear in it. Neither does disarmament. Neither does France.
What Leiter described as the centerpiece of the negotiation, Moawad did not acknowledge.
Joe Kawly
Joe Kawly is Washington Bureau Chief for MBN and a global affairs journalist with more than twenty years covering U.S. foreign policy and Middle East politics.
A CNN Journalism Fellow and Georgetown University graduate, he reports from Washington at the intersection of power and diplomacy, explaining how decisions made in the U.S. capital shape events across the Arab world.
