The Middle East looks this Tuesday to Washington, where direct talks have started between Israel and Lebanon, a contact unprecedented in decades that seeks to open a path of de-escalation amid the resurgence of the conflict on the Israeli northern border and the offensive against the Shiite militia Hezbollah.
The U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, has received in the U.S. capital the ambassadors of both countries, in a meeting that has marked the formal beginning of a diplomatic process still incipient but full of expectations.
The initiative, driven by the Administration of Donald Trump, aims to activate a direct political channel while on the ground the military confrontation continues.
An attempt at ceasefire in the midst of open war
The talks, scheduled for 11:00 in the morning (local time), seek to lay the groundwork for an eventual ceasefire and open a broader negotiation framework on structural issues such as the security on Israel's northern border and the future of the arsenal of the Shiite party-militia Hezbollah, one of the main sources of regional tension.
The direct involvement of Rubio strengthens the role of Washington as an active mediator, although also as an actor with strategic interests in the stabilization of the conflict, in parallel with other open diplomatic fronts, especially the indirect conversations with Iran.
"Beginning of the end of suffering", says Beirut
From Beirut, the Lebanese president, Joseph Aoun, has welcomed with hope the start of the talks, assuring that the meeting can mark the “beginning of the end of the suffering of the Lebanese”, especially those from the south.
Aoun has also insisted on the need for Israel to withdraw from the occupied areas of southern Lebanon and has proposed the deployment of the Lebanese army in those areas, currently a stronghold of Hezbollah, as part of an eventual stabilization solution.
Rubio considers it “a historic opportunity"
At the start of the meeting, Marco Rubio has described the conversations as a “historic opportunity” to reduce tensions and rebuild communication channels between two countries that have been at odds for decades. However, he has lowered expectations by warning that the process is “complex” and will not lead to a quick agreement.
The head of U.S. diplomacy has stressed that the immediate objective is to lay the foundations for a sustained process that allows to subsequently address the main knots of the conflict.
Lebanon raises the mortal victims to more than 2,100 dead
The start of the dialogue occurs in a context of high tension in the region. The Defense Forces of Israel have warned of the possibility of an increase in attacks by Hezbollah in the coming hours, while urging the population to remain on alert given the evolving situation.
In parallel, the Lebanese Ministry of Health has raised to 2,124 dead and more than 6,900 injured the provisional toll of victims since the start of the escalation, in a war that has intensified humanitarian pressure in the country and has overwhelmed the response capacity in several southern regions.
In this regional context of high volatility, the American president, Donald Trump, has also stated that talks with Iran could resume “in the next two days,” which adds a new dimension to the diplomatic board in the Middle East.
The US administration thus tries to contain several simultaneous fronts in a region where any diplomatic advance coexists with the permanent risk of a military escalation.