US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has hosted the Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors in Washington for the first direct peace talks between the countries in decades.
Rubio is mediating the talks on Tuesday between Israeli envoy Yechiel Leiter and Lebanon's Nada Hamadeh Moawad, which began around 1500 GMT at the US State Department.
"This is a historic opportunity. We understand we're working against decades of history and the complexities that have led us to this unique moment and the opportunity here," Rubio said at the State Department as he welcomed the ambassadors of the two countries.
"The hope today is that we can outline a framework upon which a current and lasting peace can be developed," he added.
But Hezbollah — which is battling invading Israeli troops in southern Lebanon — has called for the talks to be scrapped before they even began.
Lebanon's president, however, expressed hope that direct talks in Washington with Israel would lead to an end of his country's suffering after Israel invaded Lebanon last month.
"I hope that the meeting in Washington... will mark the beginning of the end of the suffering of the Lebanese people in general, and those in the south in particular," President Joseph Aoun said in a statement, adding that "stability will not return to the south if Israel continues to occupy its lands".
"The only solution lies in the Lebanese army re-deploying up to the internationally recognised border, and so being solely responsible for the security of the area and the safety of its residents, without the partnership of any other party," Aoun added.
In recent months, Israeli attacks — including an extremely heavy attack on Beirut on April 8 — have killed more than 2,000 Lebanese, mostly women and children, and displaced more than one million, despite international calls for a ceasefire.
The meeting comes at a critical juncture in the crisis in the Middle East, a week into a fragile ceasefire between the United States, Israel and Iran. The Israeli invasion of Lebanon has been a complicating factor in Pakistan's mediation to end the wider conflict.
Tuesday’s meeting marks a rare encounter between representatives of governments that have remained technically in a state of war since Israel was created in 1948.
