Rubio hosts Israeli, Lebanese envoys for first direct talks in decades
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio hosted the Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors in Washington on Tuesday for the first direct peace talks between the two sides in decades.
Rubio is mediating the talks between Israeli envoy Yechiel Leiter and Lebanon's Nada Hamadeh Moawad, which began around 1500 GMT. U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa and an aide to Rubio also took part in the meeting.
Al-Jadeed television said the Lebanese and Israeli envoys did not shake hands.
Hezbollah, which is battling Israeli forces in southern Lebanon, has called for the talks to be scrapped, saying it is opposed to the notion of "direct" negotiations.
Rubio urged Israel and Lebanon to seize a "historic opportunity" for peace as talks started.
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.
Lebanon was pulled into the broader conflict when Hezbollah attacked Israel in support of its backer 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 is the first high-level, direct talks since 1993.
Expectations of any major breakthroughs are low, with Hezbollah's leader Naim Qassem calling for the talks to be scrapped before they even began, describing them as "futile".
Shortly after the talks began, Hezbollah said it had launched "simultaneous rocket salvos" at 13 northern Israeli towns.
Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Israel was seeking "peace and normalization" with Lebanon.
But he insisted that Hezbollah was the "problem", and that it needed to be addressed in order to move to a "different phase".
The Israeli military had previously warned it expected a rise in attacks by Hezbollah as the talks kicked off.
Foreign ministers from 17 countries, including Britain and France, urged both countries to seize the chance to bring lasting security to the region.
Source: Agence France Presse, Naharnet
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