Israel and Lebanon signed a framework agreement to end fighting following weeks of negotiations brokered by the Trump administration, which had left Jerusalem out of separate talks aimed at ending the U.S.-Iran war.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the framework during a signing ceremony in Washington, D.C., on Friday that included the ambassadors from Israel and Lebanon, saying that while the agreement marked the “first step” to peace, there is “a lot of work ahead.”
“We are happy to announce the framework agreement between the sovereign government of Lebanon and, of course, the government of Israel, with the mediation and support of the United States of America, that begins to put in place a framework for lasting peace and security,” Rubio said.
The agreement, however, doesn’t include Hezbollah – the party that Israel has been at war with along its norther border. Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy, reignited the conflict with Israel when it launched attacks on the north of the country days after the U.S. and Israel started its war on Iran in late February.
The framework comes days after the U.S. and Iran agreed on a 60-day roadmap toward ending that war, a road map that also included a direct U.S.-Iranian track to terminate military operations in Lebanon. The track included Lebanon but not Israel, and did not explain how hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah would be resolved.
Israelis chafed at being left out of ending a war that the country had joined the United States in starting, on terms that Jerusalem feels leave it in danger.
The framework announced Friday describes a path to a future peace agreement, including two “pilot projects” that will involve the Israeli military withdrawing from areas it currently occupies in Lebanon, according to Axios. Those areas will be handed over to the Lebanese military.
“Israel will maintain its security zone within the borders of the Yellow Line in Lebanon until the day when Hezbollah and the other terrorist organizations in Lebanon are disarmed and there is no longer a threat from Lebanon to the territory of the State of Israel,” a senior Israeli official told Axios.
It is unclear how the framework agreement will be implemented given the lack of detail on how Hezbollah will be disarmed.
Yechiel Leiter, Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, said during the ceremony that “Iran is out, Hezbollah is out, and the road to peace between Israel and Lebanon is in.”
“Final destination: peace between our 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.
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