By Simon Lewis, Humeyra Pamuk, Laila Bassam and Alexander Cornwell
WASHINGTON/BEIRUT/JERUSALEM, April 14 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio hosted the first direct talks between Israel and Lebanon in decades on Tuesday and both sides said they held positive discussions although it was not immediately clear if they agreed to a framework for peace.
The meeting marked a rare encounter between representatives of governments that have technically been in a state of war since Israel was established in 1948. They entered the talks with conflicting agendas, with Israel ruling out discussion of a ceasefire in Lebanon and demanding Beirut disarm Hezbollah.
The U.S. State Department released a statement after the meeting saying the two sides had "productive discussions on steps toward launching direct negotiations."
It set out each country's positions but did not say they had reached any common ground. "All sides agreed to launch direct negotiations at a mutually agreed time and venue," the statement said.
Speaking to reporters after the more than two-hour-long meeting in Washington, Yechiel Leiter, Israeli ambassador to the United States, said the Lebanese government made it clear during the talks that it will no longer be "occupied" by Iran-aligned Lebanese militia Hezbollah. He declined to say whether Israel would cease its attacks on Lebanon.
Lebanese ambassador Nada Moawad described the preliminary meeting as "constructive". In a statement to Reuters, she said in the meeting she called for a ceasefire and the return of displaced people to their homes and measures to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Lebanon caused by the conflict.
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 wider conflict in the region began with U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28. Hezbollah opened fire in support of Tehran on March 2, sparking an Israeli offensive that has killed more than 2,000 people and forced 1.2 million from their homes, according to Lebanese authorities.
The presence of Rubio, President Donald Trump's top diplomat and national security adviser, signalled Washington's desire to see progress.
Trump has urged Israel to scale back attacks in Lebanon apparently to avoid undermining the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran. The Middle East conflict has led to the largest oil supply disruption in history, piling pressure on Trump to find an off-ramp.
Iran says Israel's campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon must be included in any agreement to end the wider war in the Middle East, complicating talks mediated by Pakistan aimed at averting further economic fallout. Washington has pushed back, saying there is no link between the two sets of talks.
CRITICAL JUNCTURE IN MIDDLE EAST CRISIS
Speaking at the start of the meeting, Rubio acknowledged that Tuesday's talks would not solve "all of the complexities" but he hoped they would help form a framework for peace.
Israeli ambassador Leiter later expressed hope but did not mention a concrete way forward.
"What gives me hope is the fact that the Lebanese Government made it very clear that they will no longer be occupied by Hezbollah... This is an opportunity. This is the first time our two countries are sitting together in over three decades," Leiter said, adding that there may be further talks in the coming weeks.
The Lebanese government led by President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has called for negotiations with Israel despite objections from Hezbollah, reflecting worsening tensions between the Shi'ite Muslim group and its opponents.
The Lebanese state has been seeking to disarm Hezbollah peacefully since a war between the militia and Israel in 2024. Any move by Lebanon to disarm it by force risks igniting conflict in a country shattered by civil war from 1975 to 1990. Moves against Hezbollah by a Western-backed government in 2008 prompted a short civil war.
The current government banned Hezbollah's military wing after it opened fire on Israel last month.
Lebanese officials have said Moawad only has authority to discuss a ceasefire in Tuesday's meeting while Israeli government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian said Israel would not discuss a ceasefire, underscoring how at odds the two sides are.
MORE TALKS POSSIBLE
In earlier remarks, Rubio said these talks were a process and not a one-off event. Leiter said there may be more talks soon but none of the participants mentioned a set time and a place.
"There were a few proposals, a few recommendations. We will of course bring these recommendations to our governments... and we will return in the next few weeks, we will continue to sit together. We will probably continue the talks in Washington," Leiter said.
Rubio was hosting Tuesday's talks amid questions over his lack of in-person participation in talks with Iran, with the Republican president sending Vice President JD Vance to Islamabad over the weekend to lead the U.S. negotiations.
Rubio was with Trump in Florida watching a mixed martial arts event as Vance announced in Pakistan that talks with the Iranians had concluded with no breakthrough.
State Department Counselor Michael Needham, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz, and U.S. ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa, a personal friend of Trump, were also participating in the talks on Tuesday.
(Reporting by Simon Lewis and Humeyra Pamuk in Washington; Laila Bassam and Maya Gebeily in Beirut; Alexander Cornwell and Rami Ayyub in Jerusalem,; Additional reporting by Ryan Jones; Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Alex Richardson and Nia Williams)
