WASHINGTON — In a surprise social media announcement Wednesday, former U.S. President Donald Trump revealed that long-awaited talks between the leaders of Israel and Lebanon will be held on Thursday, marking what would be the first high-level direct engagement between the two nations in more than three decades. However, the announcement has already sparked confusion, as top Lebanese officials have denied receiving any formal notification of the planned meeting, leaving the future of the planned dialogue uncertain.\n\nSpeaking on his social media platform, Trump framed the planned meeting as an effort to de-escalate months of rising tensions between the neighboring states. “It has been a long time since the two leaders have spoken, like 34 years. It will happen tomorrow,” Trump wrote, offering no additional details about the format, location, or agenda beyond noting the goal of creating “a little breathing room between Israel and Lebanon.”\n\nIsraeli officials have moved quickly to confirm the planned dialogue. Gila Gamliel, a senior member of Israel’s security cabinet, confirmed to Israel’s Army Radio that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to hold his first ever conversation with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun after generations of frozen diplomatic relations between the two countries. “This move will hopefully ultimately lead to prosperity and flourishing for Lebanon as a state,” Gamliel added. This confirmation marks the first official on-the-record acknowledgment from an Israeli source that the talks are scheduled.\n\nBut Lebanon’s leadership has pushed back sharply on the announcement. A senior Lebanese official told Reuters that Beirut has no information about a planned call or meeting between Aoun and Netanyahu. A second Lebanese official echoed that sentiment to Agence France-Presse, stating “we are not aware of any planned contact with the Israeli side, and we have not been informed of any through official channels.”\n\nThe announcement comes one day after lower-level diplomatic progress: during a Tuesday meeting between the two countries’ U.S.-based ambassadors in Washington, both sides agreed to launch a new round of direct negotiations. Speaking Wednesday, Netanyahu laid out two non-negotiable core goals for the talks: “First, the dismantling of Hezbollah; second, a sustainable peace … achieved through strength.”\n\nFor Lebanon’s side, Ambassador to the U.S. Nada Hamadeh Moawad made clear Beirut’s top priority during the Tuesday ambassadorial meeting: a immediate ceasefire to end ongoing cross-border clashes. To date, Israel has rejected that demand. Lebanon also pushed for concrete international action to address the devastating humanitarian crisis gripping the country, a crisis exacerbated by the ongoing U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, according to an official statement from the U.S. State Department.\n\nIf the meeting goes forward as announced, it will mark the first high-level official interaction between Israel and Lebanon since 1993. The planned dialogue has already drawn fierce pushback from Hezbollah, the Iran-aligned militant group that holds significant political and military power within Lebanon. Hezbollah has condemned the planned talks as “capitulation” to Israeli demands.\n\nWhile diplomats negotiate in Washington, violent clashes continue to escalate on the ground between Israeli forces and Hezbollah fighters along the Israel-Lebanon border. On Thursday, the Israeli military issued a mandatory evacuation order for all civilian residents of southern Lebanon, calling for populations to leave all territory south of the Zahrani River — a line that sits roughly 40 kilometers north of the official Israel-Lebanon border. Hezbollah, for its part, has claimed responsibility for multiple recent drone strikes targeting Israeli military positions in northern Israel and along the shared border. Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported ongoing heavy clashes Thursday in Bint Jbeil, a border town just 5 kilometers from the frontier where Hezbollah fighters are engaged in direct combat with Israeli ground forces.