United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced a deal framework between Lebanon and Israel after negotiations in Washington, DC.
Details about the agreement remain scarce. But in his remarks on Friday, Rubio made clear that the deal was only the “first step” in further negotiations.
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“It’s the beginning of the beginning,” Rubio said, surrounded by representatives from both Lebanon and Israel.
“There’s a lot of work ahead. We don’t in any way underestimate the difficulty of the task ahead, but we understand the importance of it, how vital it is.”
The two sides had gathered in Washington, DC, for four days of US-mediated talks this week, starting on Tuesday. The Lebanese group Hezbollah has not been party to the talks.
Ongoing fighting in Lebanon, however, has threatened to disrupt efforts to forge a ceasefire between Iran and the US.
On June 17, the US and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to bring to a halt the US-Israeli war against Iran. That 14-point document required “the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon”.
But Israel has occupied nearly a fifth of Lebanon, and it continued to bombard the country after the memorandum was signed.
Last Friday, the two sides agreed to a ceasefire, but Israeli troops remain stationed in southern Lebanon, and while its attacks have lessened, they have not stopped.
Three people, for instance, were killed in strike in southern Lebanon on Thursday, and more houses were burned as Israel continues its campaign, allegedly against Hezbollah.
The leadership of Hezbollah, meanwhile, has called on Israel to withdraw from the country as a necessary condition for peace. “Israel must leave unconditionally,” Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said in a separate statement on Friday.
But shortly after the framework deal was announced, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dashed that prospect.
“The most important thing is, first of all, that Israel remains in the security zone in southern Lebanon. This is a major achievement, and we will maintain it as long as Hezbollah has not disarmed,” Netanyahu said in a statement.
Hezbollah, meanwhile, continued to reject the talks as weakening Lebanon’s sovereignty.
“The course being pursued by Lebanese authorities amounts to unilateral, gratuitous concessions that will only undermine the country and serve the interests of the Israeli enemy,” said Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah.
The continued fighting in Lebanon has become a growing source of tension between Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump, who is facing domestic backlash over the war against Iran.
Earlier this month, Trump confirmed he called Netanyahu “crazy”, though he has insisted the Israeli leader is a “very good man” with whom he has an “amazing partnership”.
“We have a little dispute over Lebanon,” Trump said at the Group of 7 (G7) summit in France last week. “You don’t have to knock down a building every time somebody walks into it that’s from Hezbollah.”
He then encouraged Netanyahu to adopt a “softer touch” in approaching Lebanon.
“They could do a much better job with Hezbollah on that. I don’t think they’re doing well. And I feel very bad for Lebanon,” Trump added.
In Friday’s news conference, Rubio echoed that message of concern for Lebanon.
“The people of Lebanon have suffered tremendously now for decades as a result of outside interference in their affairs, of countries trying to use the country as a launchpad for attacks,” he said. “This is not what the people of Lebanon want, and that’s not what they deserve.”
This is not the first time the US has hosted talks between Israel and Lebanon in recent months. This week’s meeting marked the fifth round of mediated talks between the two sides.
In April, for instance, Rubio hosted talks between the two sides after ongoing fighting in Lebanon threatened to derail another US-Iran ceasefire agreement, signed on April 7.
It was touted as the first high-level engagement between the two sides since 1993, but that meeting ultimately concluded with little more than an agreement “to launch direct negotiations” in future.
That was followed by a two days of negotiations in May, which concluded with “a framework for negotiations to advance lasting peace”, similar to what was announced on Friday.
Nada Hamadeh, the Lebanese ambassador to the US, called the latest meeting “long and difficult”. But she expressed optimism that the latest framework might advance peace talks.
“The trilateral framework we sign today is a first step on the road to restoring Lebanese sovereignty and territorial integrity, securing a permanent and final cessation of hostilities, enabling our people to go back to their land and allowing all Lebanese to live in peace, security, and prosperity,” she said.
Her Israeli counterpart, Yechiel Leiter, praised Hamadeh as a “tough negotiator” who fights “like a lioness” for her country. He also claimed the latest round of talks “ put the train back on the tracks”.
“It’s running in the right direction. Final destination? Peace between our two countries. Real peace, where both countries will live in security, where Israel’s and Lebanon’s sovereignty will be respected, honored and protected,” Leiter said.
“In this performance-based trilateral framework agreement, Iran is out, Hezbollah is out, and the road to peace between Israel and Lebanon is in.”
Leiter also described the talks as advancing Trump’s vision of “peace through strength”.
But experts questioned how substantial Friday’s framework might be. Rami Khouri, a fellow at the American University of Beirut, said a framework alone is “not something very significant”.
“It’s a public relations idea that they’d like to see an eventual agreement between Lebanon and Israel, where they’re not shooting, Hezbollah and Israel are not shooting,” Khouri said.
But he pointed out that Hezbollah has not been part of the talks, which could hamper any deal from being cemented. “The Lebanese army by itself cannot disarm Hezbollah,” he said.
Still, that is not the biggest hurdle in the negotiations ahead, according to Khouri.
“If the Lebanese armed forces can protect all of Lebanon, and if the Israelis stop attacking Lebanon, if Lebanon’s sovereignty and security are guaranteed, Hezbollah shouldn’t be a big problem in the long run,” he explained.
“The biggest problem is that this whole process — and the symbolism of it being in the State Department kind of confirms this — is predicated on the fact that Israel’s safety has to be guaranteed before the Lebanese get their rights.”
Khouri said the conflict is “resolvable”, so long as both sides treat each other as equals. But he added that he has not seen that so far.
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