Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has repeatedly stated that direct contact with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will occur only after an agreement ending hostilities, Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory, and verifiable steps on Hezbollah disarmament. Delegation-level talks in Washington have continued into mid-2026 on these sequencing issues under U.S. mediation, with both sides aligned on the goal of a non-aggression framework but divided on the order of steps. Aoun’s July 2026 White House visit with President Trump reinforced Beirut’s position against a bilateral leader meeting or call absent those conditions, while Israel has signaled openness to engagement once security benchmarks are met. This dynamic, alongside any near-term progress in the deconfliction mechanism or escalation signals, shapes trader assessments of whether a Netanyahu-Aoun conversation materializes by the market’s cutoff.