Israel and Lebanon are engaging in their first direct talks in decades. And while it’s ‘quite symbolic’, Dr H. A. Hellyer, Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) for Defence and International Security Studies in London. argues that the meetings are less a diplomatic breakthrough than a symbolic reflection of American pressure amid ongoing Israeli military actions inside Lebanon. According to Dr. Helyer, the region’s political actors are navigating deep currents of mistrust shaped by repeated violations of ceasefires, a lack of credible guarantors, and long-standing unresolved territorial and political disputes.