JERUSALEM, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed an Israeli envoy to travel to Lebanon for a meeting with "governmental-economic officials," Netanyahu's office said Wednesday.
It marks "a first attempt to lay the groundwork for relations and economic cooperation between Israel and Lebanon," the office said in a statement.
No details were given on the timing and location of the meeting, nor the issues to be discussed.
The move comes amid nearly daily Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon, despite a ceasefire that came into effect in November 2024, ending months of cross-border fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
Israel and Lebanon, which remain technically at war, have no diplomatic ties and have long communicated only indirectly, usually through the UN or foreign mediators.
The two countries reached a U.S.-brokered agreement in 2022 demarcating their maritime border, opening the door to offshore energy exploration, but political and security tensions have persisted, particularly along the shared frontier. ■
