Lebanon and Israel have agreed to a deal as part of a trilateral framework with the US in Washington on Friday, following five rounds of talks hosted by the Trump administration.
The details have yet to be disclosed, but US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has called it “the beginning of the beginning” in remarks to reporters moments before the signing.
“Obviously, the people of Israel deserve to live in peace and security. The people in northern Israel, in particular, who have been targeted repeatedly by terrorist attacks launched from the territory of Lebanon, but not by the Lebanese people, not by the Lebanese government, but by an outside actor who has sought to use that territory,” he said, referring to Hezbollah, who was not represented at the talks.
Lebanon’s ambassador to Washington, Nada Hamadeh Moawad, described the meetings as “long and difficult”.
“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 told reporters on Friday.
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