Hezbollah main obstacle to Israel-Lebanon peace, Rubio says
Israel and Lebanon could reach a peace agreement within days were it not for the obstacle posed by Hezbollah, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday, as the two sides began a fourth round of talks in Washington.
"Israel and Lebanon can do a peace deal tomorrow," Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
He added: "Israel has no territorial claims in Lebanon. Hezbollah is the impediment. There is no Hezbollah without Iran."
Rubio stressed that Washington, acting as a mediator, wanted the Israel-Lebanon talks to proceed independently of negotiations with Iran, something Tehran has resisted.
The ambassadors of Israel and Lebanon began a new round of direct talks in Washington as Israeli forces and Hezbollah continue to exchange fire, despite Trump announcing an agreement Monday to halt attacks.
The fourth meeting between representatives of the two countries, which do not have diplomatic relations, is taking place at the State Department and is scheduled to last two days.
Participants include Israel's ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, and Lebanese envoy Nada Hamadeh Moawad, as well as Daniel Holler, a senior advisor to Rubio.
None of the officials made any statements as the talks began Tuesday.
However, Israel on Tuesday said it would target Hezbollah's bastions in Beirut's southern suburbs if the Iran-backed group continues to attack northern Israeli towns.
Recent days have seen a dramatic escalation in fighting and bombardment as Israeli troops stage their deepest incursion into Lebanon in two decades.
Lebanon's health ministry said Tuesday that Israeli strikes a day earlier near a hospital in the southern city of Tyre killed four people and wounded 127 others, including 39 staff from the facility.
Source: Agence France Presse
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