ALERT: Middle East live: first direct talks between Israel and Lebanon in Washington
New information reveals that the following story has emerged from the international scene.
04/14/2026 – 5:34 p.m. Israel-Lebanon talks: Marco Rubio speaks of a “historic opportunity” for lasting peace 04/14/2026 – 5:28 p.m. Talks in Washington on Lebanon: the Israeli army says it expects an “intensification” of Hezbollah fire The Israeli army has indicated that it expects an “intensification” of Hezbollah fire pro-Iranian Islamist movement Hezbollah towards Israel, as Israeli and Lebanese officials meet in Washington for peace negotiations. “Following an assessment of the situation and taking into account the latest developments, an intensification of fire from Lebanon is possible, probably targeting northern Israel,” the army said in a statement. 04/14/2026 – 5:20 p.m. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun hopes that negotiations with Israel will mark “the beginning of the end” of the suffering of the Lebanese Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said he hopes that talks with Israel in Washington mark “the beginning of the end of the suffering of the Lebanese”, after several weeks of war between Israel and Hezbollah. “I hope that the meeting in Washington (…) will be the beginning of the end of the suffering of the Lebanese in general and the inhabitants of the south in particular,” the Lebanese leader said in a statement, shortly before the start of the first direct talks between Israel and Lebanon since the start of the war, on March 2. “Stability will not be restored in the south (of Lebanon) if Israel continues to occupy territories there,” he said, adding: “the only solution is for the Lebanese army to redeploy itself to the borders recognized by the international community and to be solely responsible for the security of the area and its inhabitants without partnership with anyone.” 04/14/2026 – 5:11 p.m. First direct peace talks between Israel and Lebanon begin in Washington US Secretary of State Marco Rubio welcomed the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors for the first direct peace talks in decades. The meeting, taking place at the US State Department, includes Israeli Ambassador Yechiel Leiter and Lebanese Ambassador Nada Hamadeh Moawad, as well as US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa. Even before the meeting, the pro-Iranian Hezbollah, which is not represented, had rejected the holding of these discussions. 04/14/2026 – 4:57 p.m. Oil: the American barrel loses 5% with hopes of de-escalation Oil prices accelerate their decline, the market seeming to believe in an easing of the conflict in the Middle East after statements by Donald Trump interpreted in this sense and before talks between Lebanon and Israel. Around 2:15 p.m. GMT (4:15 p.m. in Paris), the barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI), for delivery in May, fell 6.20% to 92.94 dollars, and the price of a barrel of Brent, the international benchmark, for delivery in June, lost 3.77% to 95.61 dollars. 04/14/2026 – 4:43 p.m. Oil: the coming chaos? 04/14/2026 – 4:32 p.m. Donald Trump says he is “shocked” by the lack of “courage” of Giorgia Meloni American President Donald Trump strongly criticized the head of the Italian government Giorgia Meloni for refusing to involve her country in the war in Iran, saying he was “in shock” and disappointed by her lack of “courage”. “Do they (the Italians, editor’s note) appreciate the fact that your president does not give us help get this oil? Do they like it? I can’t imagine it. I thought she had courage, but I was wrong,” Donald Trump said in an interview with the Italian daily Corriere della Sera. 04/14/2026 – 4:19 p.m. Israel says Italy’s suspension of defense agreement between the two countries will not affect its security The Israeli Foreign Ministry said that Italy’s announcement of the suspension of the renewal of its defense agreement with Israel would not affect its security, a ministry spokesperson told AFP. “We have no security agreement with Italy. We have a memorandum of understanding dating back to many years which has never contained substantive provisions. This will not affect Israel’s security,” said Oren Marmorstein. 14/04/2026 – 16:05 Seventeen countries, including France and the United Kingdom, call on Israel and Lebanon to “seize the opportunity” of peace talks Seventeen countries, including France and the United Kingdom, called on Lebanon and Israel to “seize the opportunity” of direct peace talks which are to take place in Washington under American mediation. “We welcome the initiative of President (Lebanese Joseph) Aoun to open direct negotiations with Israel and the fact that Israel has agreed to begin these negotiations under the mediation of the United States. We call on both parties to seize this opportunity,” these seventeen countries wrote in a joint statement. 04/14/2026 – 3:57 p.m. Lebanon-Israel: First direct talks since 1993 04/14/2026 – 3:42 p.m. Serbia is preparing to produce drones with Israel Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic confirmed that the country would produce military drones as part of a joint agreement with an Israeli company, of which he did not give details. nom.leksandar Vucic had already mentioned the construction of a drone factory “with a foreign partner”. Today, he clarified during a visit to the Serbian armed forces in Belgrade that the choice of an Israeli company was obvious to him, “because they are the ones who manufacture them best.” At the beginning of April, the investigative media BIRN and the Israeli daily Haaretz had in a joint investigation affirmed that the Israeli arms company Elbit Systems was preparing to build a drone factory in Serbia. According to Birn’s investigation, the factory is owned by Elbit Systems and the Serbian state company SDPR. 04/14/2026 – 3:27 p.m. The IMF lowers its global growth forecast to 3.1% in 2026 due to the war in the Middle East The global economy will suffer this year from the consequences of the war in the Middle East, according to updated forecasts from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), with growth overall limited to 3.1%, compared to 3.3% previously expected. The United States should be among the countries the least economically affected by the conflict they started on February 28. The institution expects growth of 2.3% in 2026, or 0.1 point less than in the previous projection, in January. 04/14/2026 – 3:13 p.m. IMF lowers its growth forecast in the euro zone to 1.1% in 2026 The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has lowered its growth forecast in the euro zone by 0.2 points to 1.1% for 2026 compared to its January estimates, citing the “negative impact” of the war in the Middle East. All the main economies of the euro zone are affected, at varying degrees: the growth forecast is reduced to 0.8% in Germany (-0.3 points), 0.5% in Italy (-0.2) and 2.1% in Spain (-0.2), France doing a little better with a revision of 0.1 points to 0.9%. Outside the EU, the United Kingdom is harder hit (-0.5 points to 0.8%). 04/14/2026 – 2:49 p.m. First talks between Lebanon and Israel in Washington, without Hezbollah 04/14/2026 – 2:35 p.m. The EU is concerned about possible problems with the supply of kerosene in the “near future” The European Commission is concerned about possible difficulties in supplying Europe with kerosene in the “near future”, due to war in the Middle East. “At present” there is no shortage of fuel in the EU, Commission spokeswoman Anna-Kaisa Itkonen said. “But supply difficulties could arise in the near future”, in particular for kerosene, “the main source of concern”, she underlined. Last week, the association of European airports warned of a risk of “systemic shortage” of kerosene if maritime traffic was not restored in the Strait of Hormuz by the end of April. 04/14/2026 – 2:21 p.m. Two ships from Iran crossed the Strait of Hormuz despite the US blockade At least two ships from Iranian ports crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, despite the US military blockade, maritime data company Kpler said today. The Liberian-flagged bulk carrier Christianna crossed the strait after unloading corn at the Iranian port of Bandar Imam Khomeini, passing near the Iranian island of Larak around 4 p.m. GMT on Monday, after the blockade imposed by Washington came into force at 2 p.m. GMT, according to this source. A second ship, the tanker Elpis, flying the Comoros flag, was near the island of Larak around 11 a.m. GMT and crossed the strait around 4 p.m. GMT. 04/14/2026 – 2:14 p.m. Mission on the Strait of Hormuz: conference on Friday with volunteer “non-belligerent countries” French head of state Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will co-chair a video conference from Paris on Friday of “non-belligerent countries ready to contribute” to “a multilateral and purely defensive mission” on the Strait of Hormuz, announced on Tuesday the Élysée. This mission, with still unclear contours, distinct from the efforts of the United States, is “intended to restore freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz when security conditions allow it”, specified the French presidency. 04/14/2026 – 1:15 p.m. Peace negotiations behind the scenes? Analysis by Bruno Daroux, international columnist at France 24. 04/14/2026 – 1:26 p.m. Macron says he called on Trump and Iranian President Pezeshkian to “resume negotiations” Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday that he had spoken the day before with American President Donald Trump as well as his Iranian counterpart Massoud Pezeshkian and asked the two leaders to “resume interrupted negotiations” between the United States and Iran, and “to clarify misunderstandings”.
What This Means:
Experts suggest this event marks a turning point that may influence policy decisions worldwide.
World leaders are expected to respond to these developments in the coming days.
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