U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio hosted the Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors in Washington on Tuesday for the first direct peace talks between the two countries in decades.
Rubio is mediating the talks between Israeli envoy Yechiel Leiter and Lebanon’s Nada Hamadeh Moawad, which began around 1500 GMT.
But pro-Iran Hezbollah – which is battling Israeli forces in southern Lebanon – called for the talks to be scrapped before they even began.
Meanwhile, the foreign ministers from 17 countries, including the U.K., urged Israel and Lebanon to “seize this opportunity.”
Britain’s foreign ministry posted the ministers’ joint statement saying “direct negotiations can pave the way to bring lasting security for Lebanon and Israel as well as the region.”
The statement called “upon all parties to urgently de-escalate and seize the opportunity offered by the ceasefire between the United States and Iran.”
It was signed by ministers from Britain and Australia and European countries such as France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain, but not Germany, Austria, Hungary or Italy.
Since March 2, Israeli strikes – including an extremely heavy attack on Beirut on April 8 – have killed more than 2,000 people and displaced more than one million.
The statement said that signatories “condemn in the strongest terms” both attacks by Hezbollah on Israel and “massive Israeli strikes on Lebanon.”
The countries said they welcomed the initiative by Lebanese President Joseph Aoun to open direct talks and were “ready to support” discussions.
