Today's Edition
WASHINGTON (AFP)
Washington's top diplomat urged Israel and Lebanon to seize a "historic opportunity" for peace as direct talks between the two opened on Tuesday.
The United States 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.
Washington said "the ball is in the Iranian court" on ending the region-wide war, after a US naval blockade on Iranian ports began in the Strait of Hormuz, which had already been effectively closed by Tehran.
Lebanon was pulled into the broader conflict when Hezbollah attacked Israel in support of Iran, sparking an Israeli ground invasion and strikes -- including an extremely heavy attack on Beirut on April 8 -- that have killed more than 2,000 people and displaced over one million.
Tuesday's meeting in Washington -- the first high-level, direct talks since 1993 -- was mediated by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and involved 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 said he hoped the talks "will mark the beginning of the end of the suffering of the Lebanese people".
Foreign ministers from 17 countries, including Britain and France, urged both countries to seize the chance to bring lasting security to the region.
Meanwhile, a two-week truce agreed last Wednesday between Washington and Tehran remains in place. Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Monday that "full efforts are underway" to reach an agreement to stop the fighting.
Iranian state TV reported that President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran "will continue to talk only within the framework of international law" in a phone call with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron. Macron said he urged Pezeshkian and Trump to resume stalled talks towards ending the Iran war.
