WASHINGTON: Lebanon’s ambassador to the United States Nada Hamadeh Moawad called for a ceasefire during “constructive” talks on Tuesday with Israeli officials - the first direct diplomatic negotiations between the two countries in decades.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, hailed the meeting as a “historic opportunity.” The talks follow more than a month of war between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group.
Israel and Lebanon agreed to future direct negotiations following the "productive" talks, a state department spokesperson said in a statement after the meeting.
“All sides agreed to launch direct negotiations at a mutually agreed time and venue," the statement said.
Opinion
This section contains relevant reference points, placed in (Opinion field)
Lebanon's envoy Moawad said that she “called for a ceasefire” and the return of displaced people to their homes, and also emphasized “the full sovereignty of the state” over all Lebanese territory.
The two countries have technically been at war for decades, and Tuesday’s talks have been vehemently opposed by the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which announced that it had fired rockets at more than a dozen northern Israeli towns just as the meeting was getting underway.
The US is pressing for a halt to the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, fearing it could derail the two-week ceasefire in Washington’s war with Iran after talks with Tehran in Pakistan failed to achieve a breakthrough.
Lebanese Ambassador to the US Nada Hamadeh Moawad listens during a meeting at the State Department in Washington on Tuesday. (AP)
Lebanon was pulled into the broader conflict when Hezbollah attacked Israel in support of its backer Iran, sparking an Israeli ground invasion and strikes that have killed more than 2,000 people and displaced over a million.
Tuesday’s meeting in Washington was mediated by Rubio and involved both the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to the United States.
“This is a historic opportunity,” Rubio said as he welcomed the ambassadors, acknowledging the “decades of history” complicating the process.
“The hope today is that we can outline a framework upon which a current and lasting peace can be developed.”
Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun had said he hoped the talks “will mark the beginning of the end of the suffering of the Lebanese people.”
Israeli ambassador Yechiel Leiter said the two sides “had a wonderful exchange.”
“We discovered today that we’re on the same side,” he told reporters, saying both countries were “united in liberating Lebanon” from Hezbollah.
Israeli forces are currently occupying parts of Lebanon’s south, and its government has resisted considering any ceasefire until Hezbollah is dismantled.
Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said his country was seeking “peace and normalization” with the Lebanese state, but said Hezbollah was the key problem and “needs to be addressed.”
Before the meeting, Hezbollah’s leader Naim Qassem had called for the negotiations to be scrapped and vowed to fight on.
Foreign ministers from 17 countries, including Britain and France, urged both countries to seize the chance to bring lasting security to the region.
While attention shifted to the meeting in Washington, Trump sought to squeeze Iran with a naval blockade.
US Central Command had said the measures covered “vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas.”
On Tuesday it maintained no vessels had passed through the strait and six had complied with instructions to turn back, although maritime tracking data from Kpler suggested several ships that had visited Iranian ports had managed to cross since the start of the blockade.
Iran’s military command branded the blockade an act of piracy and warned that if the security of its harbors was “threatened, no port in the Arabian Gulf and the Arabian Sea will be safe.”
