The meeting was taking place at the UN peacekeeping force’s headquarters in Lebanon Naqura near the border with Israel, the source said, as part of a mechanism to oversee the ceasefire that took hold in November 2024.
Morgan Ortagus, the US special envoy for Lebanon, also attended Wednesday’s meeting, the source added. The United States has been piling pressure on Lebanon to rapidly disarm Hezbollah.
Ortagus’s participation came a day after her visit to Jerusalem where she met Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar. Israeli media reported she also met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Until now Israel and Lebanon, which have no formal diplomatic relations, had insisted on keeping military officers in the role.
The United States has pushed for direct talks between the two sides in a bid to stabilise the region and further weaken Hezbollah.
Netanyahu’s office announced he was sending a civilian representative to meet officials in Lebanon, in what it called a first attempt to establish a basis for ties between the two sides.
Lebanese President Joseph’s Aoun office also stated Wednesday that his delegation would be led by former ambassador Simon Karam and that it had been informed that Israel would include “a non-military member in its delegation.”
The appointment of a civilian on the Lebanese side came after Lebanon declared itself ready for negotiations with Israel.
Netanyahu has repeatedly indicated that Lebanon should join the Abraham Accords, under which a handful of Arab and Muslim countries have normalised ties with Israel.
It came days after the first anniversary of the start of a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
The ceasefire with Hezbollah ended over a year of hostilities that erupted after the group launched attacks in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas.
Israel has repeatedly bombed Lebanon despite the truce.
