Rubio: Lebanon and Israel close to declaration of intent
Israel and Lebanon are making progress in negotiations, according to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
– I think we are very close in our hope of achieving a declaration of intent between the two countries, he said during a visit to Bahrain on Thursday.
The latest round of talks between the countries is in its third and final day.
– It is a process, it will take time, it will require a lot of work, but for the first time in 30 years, the sovereign government of Lebanon is talking directly to the government of Israel, says Rubio.
Israel's military launched an offensive against Iran-backed Hezbollah in southern Lebanon in early March, following the Shiite militia's attack on Israel in response to the Iran-Iraq war.
Under US leadership, representatives of the Lebanese government began direct talks with Israel in April, the first since the 1990s.
A formal ceasefire has been in place between Israel and Lebanon since mid-April. But as recently as last week, Hezbollah also agreed to join the ceasefire.
However, Israel has continued to carry out sporadic attacks on what it says are Hezbollah targets in recent days. On Thursday, three people were killed in an Israeli drone strike on a vehicle in southern Lebanon, Lebanon's state news agency reported. A total of seven people have been killed this week.
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