U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with both Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the diplomatic negotiations between Israel and Lebanon and has proposed a plan to allow for “gradual de-escalation,” a U.S. official said on Sunday.
– The U.S. has proposed that as a first step, the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group would stop all attacks on Israel and in return Israel would refrain from escalation in Beirut, the official said.
– “This would create space for gradual de-escalation and an effective cessation of hostilities,” according to the official.
– They added that Aoun tried to advance the proposal and secure an agreement. However, Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who claimed to “guarantee” Hezbollah’s commitment to a ceasefire, placed the burden on Israel to stop “shooting first.”
– Netanyahu had said on Sunday that he ordered troops to move further into Lebanon in the battle against Hezbollah, despite a ceasefire announced more than six weeks ago.
– In the latest advance, Israeli troops seized the 900-year-old Beaufort Castle and a strategic ridge in southern Lebanon, the military said earlier on Sunday, a day after one of the heaviest days of Hezbollah fire toward northern Israel since the April ceasefire, prompting school closures and restrictions.
– The U.S. official said that the U.S. did not expect Israel to absorb ongoing attacks on its civilians from Hezbollah.