Rubio to host Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors for talks amid ceasefire effort
· Axios
Secretary of State Marco Rubio will host on Tuesday a meeting between the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors in Washington, D.C., to launch direct negotiations between the countries.
Why it matters: The talks, which will take place amid fighting between Israel and Hezbollah and a wide-ranging Israeli ground invasion in southern Lebanon, are going to focus on the possibility of a ceasefire and on longer term disarming of Hezbollah, along with a peace deal between the countries, sources say.
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- This is going to be the most high-level direct meeting between Israel and Lebanon since 1993.
- In addition to Rubio, U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa, State Department Counselor Michael Needham, Israeli Ambassador Yechiel Leiter and Lebanese Ambassador Nada Hamadeh will attend the meeting.
Driving the news: Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been rejecting proposals by the Lebanese government to hold direct talks.
- Last week under pressure by President Trump to de-escalate the fighting, Netanyahu agreed to hold the meeting between the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors in Washington as a first step in peace talks between the countries.
- Ahead of the meeting the Lebanese government and the Trump administration have asked Israel for a "pause" in its attacks against Hezbollah.
- Netanyahu agreed to scale-down the strikes on Beirut but continued a ground offensive on the town of Bint Jbeil — one of Hezbollah's strongholds in southern Lebanon.
What they're saying: "As a direct result of Hezbollah's reckless actions, the Israeli and Lebanese governments are engaging in open, direct, high-level diplomatic talks brokered by the United States," a State Department official said.
- The State Department official said the conversation "will scope the ongoing dialogue about how to ensure the long-term security of Israel's northern border and to support the Government of Lebanon's determination to reclaim full sovereignty over its territory and political life."
- "Israel is at war with Hezbollah, not Lebanon, so there is no reason the two neighbors should not be talking," the State Department official said.