Secretary of State Rubio to host high-level talks between Israel and Lebanon Tuesday

Secretary of State Marco Rubio will host the ambassadors of Israel and Lebanon in Washington on Tuesday, a rare face-to-face meeting between the leaders of the two countries. 

It will be the first time there have been any talks between the countries since the start of the Israel- and U.S.-led conflict against Iran six weeks ago, and, according to the U.S. Department of State, it will be the first “high-level diplomatic talks” between them since 1993.

Hezbollah, the insurgent group backed by Iran and based in Lebanon, opposes the talks and said it would not recognize any agreement produced by the discussions in Washington. 

Continued clashes between Israel and Hezbollah endangered the fragile ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran, with Israeli strikes reportedly killing more than 2,000 Lebanese since the start of the conflict against Iran.