WASHINGTON DC: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday (local time) announced a US-mediated framework agreement between Israel and Lebanon aimed at achieving “lasting peace and security”.
The deal calls for a ceasefire, contingent on Hezbollah ending all fire and withdrawing from southern Lebanon.
In a post on X, the Department of State quoted Rubio as saying, “SECRETARY RUBIO: We’re happy to announce a framework agreement between the sovereign government of Lebanon and the government of Israel, with the mediation and support of the United States of America.”
Rubio said further, as per Fox News, “And it will take a lot of work and some time to get back to that point, but we believe today is the first step in that journey. And the first step is sometimes the hardest step, but it’s the one we’re taking together today. Obviously, the people of Israel deserve to live in peace and security. The people of 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 to target innocent civilians who have been unable to live in these places for a long time.”
Rubio noted that the path ahead was difficult, but equally vital.
“Every time a siren goes off, you have to stop your schoolwork, you have to wake up, you have to stop going to work and you have to run into a bunker or a basement and protect yourself. So as I said, today as I’ve told all the parties here today, it’s the beginning of the beginning. There is a lot of work ahead and we don’t in any way underestimate the difficulty of the task ahead. But we understand the importance of it, how vital it is. And we are honored to have played a part in bringing this together,” he said. (ANI)
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