Israel, Lebanon sign framework agreement with U.S. in ‘first step’ toward peace, Rubio says

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio along with Israel and Lebanon’s ambassadors announced a framework agreement Friday that was described as a first step toward peace following months of conflict between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

The officials did not share details on the agreement that was signed by Yechiel Leiter, the Israeli ambassador to the United States, and Nada Hamadeh, ambassador of Lebanon to the United States.

Hamadeh said the framework “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.”

Leiter said the final destination of the framework is peace between the two countries.

“Real peace, where both countries will live in security, where Israel’s and Lebanon’s sovereignty will be respected, honored, and protected,” Leiter said. “In this performance-based trilateral framework agreement, Iran is out. Hezbollah is out. And the road to peace between Israel and Lebanon is in.”

Earlier Friday, Israeli forces dropped leaflets over the southern Lebanese town of Mansouri on Friday ordering residents to leave, Lebanese state media reported. It was the first such order issued since the latest ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect.

Israel and Lebanon held talks in Washington this week that include discussions on a U.S.-backed proposal for Israeli forces to hand over some of the territory they occupied in their war with Hezbollah to Lebanon’s military.

Before the talks resumed this week, Israel and Hezbollah agreed to halt fire even as Israel kept troops in what it describes as a “buffer zone” aimed at thwarting attacks by the Iran-backed group on northern Israel.

Violence has persisted since the ceasefire, with Israel saying on Friday its troops had struck and killed what the military described as seven Hezbollah members who were operating near the territory it is occupying. Reuters could not confirm this.

A senior Lebanese military official said Israel had recently added the town of Mansouri to its occupation zone, where the Israeli military dropped evacuation leaflets on Friday. The official said Lebanese farmers had continued to enter and leave Mansouri, but had not been living there.

An Israeli military spokesperson said the military issued what it described as a “reminder” to the civilian population that “the area is within the security zone in which IDF soldiers operate. It’s a reminder not to be in the area so they won’t be harmed.”

Lebanese officials say Israeli troops are enforcing the zone’s northern boundary by firing at anyone approaching it, including civilians and Lebanese soldiers.