WASHINGTON, JUN 1: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with both Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the diplomatic negotiations between Israel and Lebanon and has proposed a plan to allow for “gradual de-escalation,” a US official said on Sunday.
The US has proposed that as a first step, the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group would stop all attacks on Israel and in return Israel would refrain from escalation in Beirut, the official said.
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“To advance those talks, the United States proposed a clear sequence: Hezbollah must stop all attacks on Israel. In return, Israel would refrain from escalation in Beirut,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, about the conversations between the three leaders.
“This would create space for gradual de-escalation and an effective cessation of hostilities,” according to the official.
They added that Aoun tried to advance the proposal and secure an agreement. However, Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who claimed to “guarantee” Hezbollah’s commitment to a ceasefire, placed the burden on Israel to stop “shooting first.” The US official said Berri’s “response was evasive and disappointing”.
Netanyahu had said on Sunday that he ordered troops to move further into Lebanon in the battle against Hezbollah, despite a ceasefire announced more than six weeks ago.
In the latest advance, Israeli troops seized the 900-year-old Beaufort Castle and a strategic ridge in southern Lebanon, the military said earlier on Sunday, a day after one of the heaviest days of Hezbollah fire toward northern Israel since the April ceasefire, prompting school closures and restrictions.
The US official said that the US did not expect Israel to absorb ongoing attacks on its civilians from Hezbollah.
Hezbollah for its part says Israel must cease its hostilities first.
“Hezbollah is following Tehran’s lead. It clearly has no interest in the welfare of the Lebanese people,” the US official said.
“The fastest way to de-escalate and protect civilians on all sides is for Hezbollah to stop firing immediately,” the official added.
The US official’s remarks come as another meeting between Israel and Lebanon, which do not have diplomatic relations, are scheduled to take place June 2 and 3 in Washington.
Lebanon’s health ministry says Israeli attacks have killed more than 3,412 people since early March, with over a million others displaced.
