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Lebanon and Israel to Hold First-Ever Direct Talks in Washington—Starting Tuesday

The backstory: Since Israel's ground invasion began in early March following Hezbollah's missile strikes, more than 1.1 million Lebanese have been displaced. Lebanon has long refused direct talks with Israel, but the scale of the war—and U.S. pressure—has changed the calculus. Lebanon rejected Iran negotiating on its behalf, insisting the state alone speaks for Lebanon.

• Direct Lebanon-Israel negotiations are set to begin Tuesday at the U.S. State Department, confirmed by a State Department official to Al-Monitor, marking the first such U.S.-hosted talks between the two countries.
• Lebanon will be represented by Ambassador to Washington Nada Hamadeh Moawad; Israel by its Washington Ambassador Yechiel Leiter; and the U.S. by Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa—with talks expected to later continue in Cyprus.
• Netanyahu announced he has instructed his government to open direct negotiations "as soon as possible," saying they'll focus on disarming Hezbollah and establishing peaceful relations—conditions Beirut hasn't accepted.
• Lebanon has requested that a ceasefire and negotiations be announced simultaneously, per the "Pakistani model," while Israel insists talks proceed "under fire"—a fundamental contradiction that could derail everything before it starts, according to Lebanon 24.

What to watch: Whether Beirut can hold firm on its ceasefire-first condition or gets pressured into the negotiating room while Israeli strikes continue—that's the test of Lebanon's sovereign credibility this week.

"Black Wednesday": Israel's Deadliest Strike Wave on Lebanon Kills at Least 254

• Israel launched more than 100 airstrikes across Lebanon on Wednesday in minutes, killing at least 254 people and wounding 837 others, in what Daraj describes as the most devastating Israeli assault in Lebanon's modern history.
• Strikes hit central Beirut neighborhoods—including Tallet el-Khayat, which had never been targeted in this war—with no warning, collapsing buildings while families were stuck in traffic watching missiles fall around them.
• Hospitals issued emergency blood donation appeals; the Health Ministry called on civilians to clear roads for ambulances as rescue teams raced to pull survivors from rubble across the city.
• The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights called the scale of killing "horrific," saying this level of casualties hours after the Iran-U.S. ceasefire announcement was "hard to believe" and placed enormous pressure on an already fragile peace, per Daraj.

Why it matters: With more than 1,530 killed and 4,812 wounded before Wednesday's strikes even began, Lebanon is absorbing a generational trauma—and "Black Wednesday" has made the case for urgent negotiations impossible to ignore.

Lebanon's Journalists Are Being Killed—28 Dead, 13 Directly Targeted

• The Public Source's ongoing documentation records 28 media workers killed since October 2023, with 13 directly and deliberately targeted by Israel in what the outlet classifies as assassinations.
• The most recent killings include Ghada Dayekh of Sawt al-Farah and Suzanne Khalil of Al Manar, both killed on April 8 in Hay el-Ramel, Sour and Kayfoun respectively.
• Journalists have been killed in vehicles, in airstrikes on residential areas, and during active reporting—spanning outlets from Reuters and Al Mayadeen to freelance photographers and local municipal journalists across south Lebanon and Beirut.

The bigger picture: The systematic killing of journalists covering Lebanon's war—13 of them in targeted strikes classified as deliberate assassinations—is erasing the very people charged with documenting what's happening to the country in real time.

QUICK HITS

• Beirut disarmed—on paper: Lebanon's cabinet voted to ban all non-state weapons in Beirut, with PM Salam ordering security forces to immediately enforce a state monopoly on arms. Hezbollah's two ministers in cabinet objected. Whether the Lebanese army can actually enforce it is a very different question.
• Trump called. Netanyahu listened. Barely: Trump personally asked Netanyahu to scale back strikes on Lebanon to protect the Iran ceasefire—and Israel agreed to be a "helpful partner." That's diplomatic speak for: they slowed down slightly, stopped nothing, and reserved the right to resume at full force anytime.
• 4 soldiers. 4 families. 1 week: The Lebanese army mourned 4 soldiers killed in Israeli strikes—Staff Sergeant Hussein Yassin in Sidon, Private Mohammad Shahitli in Baalbek, Private Ali Qassem in Baalbek, and Trainee Ali Nasreddine in Hermel. The youngest was born in 2003.
• Iran picked Hormuz over Hezbollah: A Lebanese political analyst writing in Ya Libnan argues that Iran's silence after 100+ strikes on Lebanon proves Tehran chose its ceasefire deal—and Strait of Hormuz leverage worth up to $2 million per ship—over defending its closest proxy. The pattern, he writes, is identical to what happened with Hamas in Gaza.
• $11 billion to rebuild—again: An An-Nahar analysis estimates Lebanon's reconstruction costs could reach $11 billion, with the economy already having shrunk 64% between 2018 and 2023. The piece argues Lebanon must pivot to a cross-border, diaspora-driven economic model—because waiting for stability is no longer an option.

INTERNATIONAL

Global Aid Collapses 23% as U.S. Slashes USAID by More Than Half

• International development aid fell by 23% in real terms in 2025 to its lowest level since 2015, according to the OECD—the largest single-year drop since records began, driven overwhelmingly by cuts from the world's wealthiest nations.
• The U.S. reduced its official development assistance by 56.9%—the largest reduction ever recorded by any country—making it the least generous donor relative to economic size in the entire Development Assistance Committee, donating just 0.09% of gross national income.
• Germany became the world's largest donor by default, contributing $29.09 billion, even as it missed its own targets; total DAC member spending stood at $174.3 billion, barely one-third of the UN's 0.7% GNI target.
• The OECD forecasts a further decline of 5.8% in 2026, with its secretary-general calling the trajectory "deeply concerning" and warning of an "enormous shock to the system" for populations that depend on aid.

The bigger picture: As the U.S. retreats from global development financing, the vacuum is being partially filled by Gulf states like the UAE, Turkey, and Qatar—reshaping who holds leverage over the developing world's most vulnerable populations.

Dubai's Economy Takes a War Hit—But Analysts Say the Dream Isn't Dead

• Dubai's economy has sustained significant damage since the Iran-U.S. conflict began, with hotel occupancy rates sharply down, the Dubai stock market benchmark losing 16% in value, and high-end restaurants reporting up to a 90% drop in footfall.
• Iran has fired over 2,200 drones and more than 500 ballistic missiles at the UAE since the war began, with some strikes hitting Dubai International Airport and residential areas; over 100 individuals, including Europeans, have been arrested for posting images of damage online.
• UAE authorities launched a support package worth approximately $272 million to assist affected businesses, including extended deadlines for government fees, hotel taxes, and customs declarations, while also planning post-war tourism incentives.
• Dubai's purchasing managers index fell from 54.6 in February to 53.2 in March—still above the 50 threshold representing growth—with S&P Global economists noting resilient order books despite war-related disruption.

What to watch: Whether high-net-worth residents and expatriates—who make up roughly 90% of Dubai's 3.8 million population and are central to its non-oil economy—choose to return once hostilities end, or permanently relocate elsewhere.

Artemis II Crew Returns From Moon—Closest Humans Have Come to Lunar Distance in 50 Years

• The four-person Artemis II crew—commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canada's Jeremy Hansen—are returning to Earth after becoming the most distant humans ever recorded, reaching 252,756 miles (406,771 kilometers) from Earth while passing behind the moon.
• The crew's Orion capsule is set to reenter Earth's atmosphere at 23,840 mph, hitting temperatures of 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit, with a Pacific splashdown off San Diego planned for Friday—the first NASA-Defense Department joint lunar crew recovery since Apollo 17 in 1972.
• NASA engineers modified the capsule's reentry descent profile rather than replace its heat shield after the shield sustained unexpected damage during the unmanned 2022 test flight; redesigned heat shields will fly on Artemis III and beyond.

Zooming out: Artemis II sets the stage for Artemis IV in 2028, which aims to land two astronauts near the moon's south pole as part of NASA's long-term goal of establishing a sustainable lunar base.

GHER HEK

• 33 years and still here: French pastry chef Lionel Pellé arrived in Beirut in 1993 for one year, married a Lebanese woman named Yola, and never left—spending 33 years as chocolatier at Pâtisserie Cannelle and earning a Relais Dessert membership in 2009. Lebanon has that effect on people.
• Gibran's forgotten book, reborn: Today marks 95 years since Kahlil Gibran drew his last breath in Manhattan—and to honor the centennial of his lesser-known Sand and Foam, a Lebanese scholar has produced a fresh Arabic translation, set to be published by the Academia Philippe Salem for Lebanese Heritage at LAU.
• Cats goes full ballroom: Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats has been spectacularly reimagined on Broadway as an ode to Harlem's Black and Latino queer ballroom culture, with house music orchestrations, vogueing choreography, and an 80-year-old André De Shields stealing every scene as Old Deuteronomy—critics are already calling it a must-see touring show.
• Italy's twin town shows up: The mayor of Martiniano, Italy—twinned with the Lebanese village of Kfarmatah since 1988—issued an urgent appeal to his residents to stand by Lebanon, calling Lebanese people "brothers," in a gesture that spans decades of joint community projects and cross-Mediterranean solidarity.

That's your Friday—go make it count.