Israel and Lebanon to hold direct talks within days — Kushner and Dermer to lead, Paris or Cyprus venue

Israel and Lebanon are expected to hold direct talks in the coming days, the Haaretz newspaper reported Saturday, citing two sources with knowledge of the matter. The talks may be held in Paris or Cyprus, according to the report. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's confidant Ron Dermer will lead the Israeli delegation, and US President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner will be involved in the process. The expected talks represent the most concrete diplomatic development of the conflict so far — specifically on the Lebanon theater. Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the war on March 2, when it launched attacks on Israel following the killing of supreme leader Khamenei. Since then, Lebanon has sustained nearly 800 killed, 830,000+ displaced, and catastrophic infrastructure damage from IDF bombardment. The involvement of Jared Kushner — who architected the Abraham Accords — and Ron Dermer, one of Netanyahu's most trusted diplomatic operators, signals this is a serious US-backed track rather than a preliminary contact. Paris and Cyprus as potential venues are both neutral European locations with existing diplomatic infrastructure for Israel-Lebanon proximity talks. The talks come as French President Macron publicly called on Israel to seize a ceasefire opportunity in Lebanon earlier Saturday, and as UN Secretary-General Guterres in Beirut emphasized diplomatic avenues remain open. The convergence of French pressure, UN urgency, and a Haaretz-sourced Kushner track suggests an actual diplomatic framework is beginning to take shape — at least on the Lebanon dimension of the broader conflict.