BEIRUT / ISTANBUL 

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said on Thursday that the civilian-led meetings with Israel will resume on Dec. 19 for implementing a ceasefire agreement between the two countries.

A Lebanese delegation, led by former ambassador to Washington, Simon Karam, attended a meeting of the ceasefire monitoring committee in Naqoura in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, along with an Israeli delegation, headed by senior director for foreign policy of Israel's National Security Council, Uri Resnick.

“It was self-evident that the first session would not be highly productive, but it paved the way for upcoming sessions that will begin on the 19th of the current month,” Aoun said during a Cabinet meeting at Baabda Palace in Beirut.

According to a presidential statement, Aoun emphasized that “the language of negotiation should prevail over the language of war.”

The Lebanese president said Karam, “a respected civilian figure,” was chosen as the head of the Lebanese delegation after consultations with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam.

A ceasefire was reached between Tel Aviv and Beirut last year after more than a year of attacks against the backdrop of the war in the Gaza Strip. More than 4,000 people were killed and 17,000 injured.

At least 335 people have been killed and 973 others wounded in 1,038 Israeli attacks since the ceasefire agreement came into effect in November 2024, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.

The Israeli army was supposed to withdraw from southern Lebanon this January under the ceasefire, but instead only partially pulled out and continues to maintain a military presence at five border outposts.