Israel and Lebanon agreed to hold direct negotiations after “productive discussions” between the two sides in Washington, the United States said on Tuesday.
“The participants held productive discussions on steps toward launching direct negotiations between Israel and Lebanon,” State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in a statement, adding, “All sides agreed to launch direct negotiations at a mutually agreed time and venue.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, hosting the Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors in Washington for the first direct peace talks between the countries in decades, urged the two countries to seize a “historic opportunity” for peace.
Lebanon’s ambassador to the United States Nada Hamadeh Moawad called for a ceasefire during “constructive” talks and emphasized “the full sovereignty of the state” over all Lebanese territory.
“We enjoyed it together. We had a wonderful exchange of over two hours,” Israeli Ambassador Yechiel Leiter told reporters following the talks.
“We discovered today that we’re on the same side,” he said, adding, “We are both united in liberating Lebanon from (an) occupation power dominated by Iran called Hezbollah.”
But the prospect of an easy agreement appear slim, especially as Hezbollah — which is battling Israeli forces in southern Lebanon — opposed the talks and called for them to be scrapped before they even began.
Hezbollah said it had launched “simultaneous rocket salvos” at 13 northern Israeli towns shortly after the start of the discussions, following an Israeli warning of a rise in attacks during the talks. (AFP)
