Who are the Lebanese and Israeli civilian envoys taking part in US-led talks?

Israel and Lebanon held direct civilian talks on Wednesday in an effort to defuse rising tensions amid fears of a renewed conflict.

Mediated by the US, the once-unthinkable talks were held during a meeting of the ceasefire monitoring body at the UN peacekeeping headquarters.

The Lebanese delegation is led by lawyer and former ambassador to the US Simon Karam, while Israel’s representative is Uri Resnick, deputy director of foreign policy at the country’s National Security Council.

Here's what we know about each envoy:

Simon Karam

Mr Karam was born in 1950 in Jezzine, southern Lebanon. He graduated with a law degree from Saint Joseph University in Beirut and worked as a lawyer before entering public service. He briefly served as governor of Bekaa in 1990 and governor of Beirut in 1991.

In 1992, former Lebanese president Elias Hrawi appointed Mr Karam as Lebanon’s ambassador to Washington. He presented his credentials to US president George H W Bush. He resigned from the role in August 1993 and returned to Lebanon.

The former ambassador is known for his outspoken position against foreign influence in Lebanon and non-state armed groups. He was a founding member of the Qornet Shehwan Gathering, a coalition of prominent Christian political, religious and intellectual figures formed in April 2001 in opposition to Syria’s military and political domination of Lebanon at the time.

Mr Karam was appointed to head Lebanon's civilian delegation in the US-led talks by President Joseph Aoun. He was chosen “for his experience, and because there is a need for a diplomat with political and sovereign expertise”, a source close to the President told The National.

Uri Resnick

Mr Resnick was born in 1970 in Ottawa, Canada, and immigrated to Israel in 1988. He received his PhD in International Relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 2005 and is an associate at the Federmann Centre for Rationality at the Hebrew University.

He teaches courses at several Israeli universities on game theory, foreign policy, strategic planning and public diplomacy.

Mr Resnick joine