In first, Israeli journalist appears on Lebanon's LBCI TV: What to know

The first Israeli journalist to appear on Lebanese television said on Friday he hopes his interview will pave the way for more normal interactions between the two countries amid the ongoing conflict.

What happened: Barak Ravid, a correspondent for both Israel’s Channel 12 and the US news outlet Axios, spoke to LBCI on Friday. The interview focused on the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon and efforts to achieve a lasting ceasefire.

Speaking to Al-Monitor afterward, Ravid called his appearance a “meaningful step” that could help Israelis and Lebanese understand each other better.

“I just hope tomorrow one of my colleagues gives an interview to another Lebanese news outlet, and the day after another one,” he told Al-Monitor. “One of the reasons we got to where we got is when people have no clue who are the people on the other side and don’t listen to each other and don’t talk to each other, then it’s much easier to demonize the other side.”

I was interviewed today for the first time on the Lebanese TV channel @LBCI_NEWS. Watch my conversation with @murat_toni pic.twitter.com/mtFatTmqFb

— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) June 5, 2026

Representatives for LBCI were not immediately available to comment.

Why it matters: Lebanon prohibits any contact with Israel. The 1955 Israel Boycott Law forbids any agreement or “any other dealing of any nature whatsoever” with Israeli entities or individuals. The Lebanese penal code additionally prohibits “contact with the enemy state” — a reference to Israel.

A number of citizens have faced legal trouble due to the law. A Beirut judge questioned Lebanese journalist and Al Arabiya anchor Layal al-Ekhtiar in January of last year over a 2023 interview she did with Avichay Adraee, the Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesperson.

Lebanese French director Ziad Doueiri was briefly detained in Beirut in 2017 in relation to a film he partially filmed in Israel four years earlier. He was promptly released.

After participating on a panel that included a former Israeli official in Washington in 2000, Lebanese American journalist Raghida Dergham had her Lebanese passport seized and was charged with “dealing with the enemy.” Dergham is currently based in Beirut, according to her social media, and the status of the case is unclear.

Despite the potential legal ramifications, there have been a few interactions between individuals from the two countries recently. Ravid interviewed a senior Lebanese official, Ali Hamdan, for Axios on Monday. Hamdan is a senior adviser to parliament speaker Nabih Berri and said in the interview that Hezbollah is ready for a full ceasefire with Israel.

Berri leads the Amal party and is one of the most prominent Shiite figures in the country. Amal is often aligned with Hezbollah, and Berri has served as a mediator for the group. The United States announced a new ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon on Wednesday, though the Israeli military and Hezbollah have continued striking each other since then.

In April, Israel and Lebanon began negotiations in Washington aimed at achieving a lasting peace agreement between the two countries. The latest round of talks concluded on Wednesday, after which the United States announced the new ceasefire.

Know more: Lebanese President Joseph Aoun told CNN on Friday that he would be willing to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if a deal is reached to end the war.

“Not before reaching an agreement,” he said on a potential meeting.

Last April, President Donald Trump said that he had never heard of the laws in Lebanon that criminalize contact with Israel and that he expects such measures to be removed.

“I never heard of that, but … I’m pretty sure that’ll be ended very quickly,” he said at the time.