Who is Simon Karam, head of the Lebanese negotiating delegation with Israel?

The Lebanese Presidency announced the appointment of former ambassador Simon Karam as head of Lebanon’s delegation to the so-called “Mechanism” committee, which includes representatives from Lebanon, Israel, the United States, France, and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). This is an international mechanism established to monitor the implementation of the cessation of hostilities agreement between Lebanon and Israel, under the sponsorship of the United States and France. It was originally composed of military officials.

The statement from the Lebanese Presidency read: “In keeping with his constitutional oath and in accordance with his constitutional powers to defend Lebanon’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and higher interests — and in response to the appreciated efforts of the United States government, which chairs the ‘Technical Military Committee for Lebanon’ established under the ‘Cessation of Hostilities Declaration’ dated November 27, 2024 — and following notification from the American side of the Israeli party’s approval to include a non-military member in its delegation to the said committee, and after coordination and consultation with Speaker of Parliament Mr. Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Dr. Nawaf Salam, President of the Republic General Joseph Aoun has decided to appoint former ambassador and lawyer Simon Karam to head the Lebanese delegation to the committee meetings.

Relevant parties have been informed accordingly. Ambassador Karam will therefore participate in today’s committee meeting, December 3, 2025, in Naqoura, in this capacity.”

A meeting was held in the Lebanese town of Naqoura, bringing together the "Mechanism" Committee along with two civilian representatives — former Lebanese Ambassador Simon Karam and Israel’s Senior Director for Foreign Policy at the National Security Council, Yuri Resnick — as well as U.S. envoy Morgan Ortagus.

According to a report by Axios, “Diplomats from Israel and Lebanon met on Wednesday under U.S. sponsorship and discussed cooperation on economic projects to help stabilize the situation in southern Lebanon near the shared border.”

The report noted that “The administration of President Donald Trump has been trying for nine months to promote this type of dialogue between Israel and Lebanon, and it believes that a resumption of war by Israel is unlikely in the coming weeks.” It added, “Washington's vision is to create a ‘Trump Economic Zone’ along the border free of Hezbollah.”

Axios quoted a source familiar with the discussions as saying that “Lebanon and Israel agreed to meet again before the beginning of the year to come up with economic proposals to build confidence,” stressing that “the most important issue in the Naqoura meeting was economic cooperation, particularly concerning the reconstruction of southern Lebanon.”