Meet Nada Hamadeh, Lebanon's US ambassador set to lead Israel talks
Lebanese ambassador to the US Nada Hamadeh is expected to lead the Lebanese delegation in talks with the Israeli side in Washington on Tuesday, the first such contact between the two parties in decades.
BEIRUT — Lebanon is preparing for historic direct talks with Israel in Washington on Tuesday, and its ambassador to the United States, Nada Hamadeh, is expected to head the delegation.
Lebanon and Israel, which remain technically at war, last sat down for direct negotiations decades ago, during the Madrid Conference in 1991. Then, the Lebanese track was under Syrian authority, given Damascus' control over Lebanon after the civil war.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that he had instructed his government to “open direct negotiations with Lebanon as soon as possible” on the disarmament of Iran-backed Hezbollah and the establishment of peaceful relations.
Netanyahu’s announcement came shortly after Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said on Thursday that negotiations with Israel to end its attacks in Lebanon must solely be conducted by the Lebanese state in a jab at Iran and its proxy group, Hezbollah, which has been engaged in a devastating war with Israel since March 2.
