Rubio to host Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors for talks amid ceasefire effort

Secretary of State Marco Rubio will host on Tuesday a meeting between the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors in Washington, D.C., to launch direct negotiations between the countries.Why it matters: The talks, which will take place amid fighting between Israel and Hezbollah and a wide-ranging Israeli ground invasion in southern Lebanon, are going to focus on the possibility of a ceasefire and on longer term disarming of Hezbollah, along with a peace deal between the countries, sources say. This is going to be the most high-level direct meeting between Israel and Lebanon since 1993. In addition to Rubio, U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa, State Department Counselor Michael Needham, Israeli Ambassador Yechiel Leiter and Lebanese Ambassador Nada Hamadeh will attend the meeting.Driving the news: Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been rejecting proposals by the Lebanese government to hold direct talks. Last week under pressure by President Trump to de-escalate the fighting, Netanyahu agreed to hold the meeting between the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors in Washington as a first step in peace talks between the countries. Ahead of the meeting the Lebanese government and the Trump administration have asked Israel for a "pause" in its attacks against Hezbollah. Netanyahu agreed to scale-down the strikes on Beirut but continued a ground offensive on the town of Bint Jbeil — one of Hezbollah's strongholds in southern Lebanon. What they're saying: "As a direct result of Hezbollah's reckless actions, the Israeli and Lebanese governments are engaging in open, direct, high-level diplomatic talks brokered by the United States," a State Department official said. The State Department official said the conversation "will scope the ongoing dialogue about how to ensure the long-term security of Israel's northern border and to support the Government of Lebanon's determination to reclaim full sovereignty over its territory and political life.""Israel is at war with Hezbollah, not Lebanon, so there is no reason the two neighbors should not be talking," the State Department official said.