Lebanese President Joseph Aoun received on Friday a telephone call from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to discuss the current situation in Lebanon and the region in light of the lates developments, reported Lebanon’s National News Agency. Rubio stressed that the United States stands with Lebanon and is working to achieve security and stability in the country, extend the authority of the state over all its territory, and support its legitimate, security, and military institutions, especially the army. Aoun expressed his gratitude to Rubio for "his country's support for Lebanon," stressing "the need to stop the Israeli attacks on Lebanese territory by achieving a comprehensive ceasefire.” Lebanon considers achieving a ceasefire a “fundamental pillar for the progress of the Lebanese-US-Israeli negotiations scheduled in Washington next week to reach the goals and principles from which these negotiations were launched to restore Lebanon's security, stability, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.” Fighting flared anew in Lebanon on Friday, with authorities reporting 47 killed in Israeli airstrikes and Israel announcing the deaths of four of its soldiers. The violence is the worst since the sealing of a US-Iran deal to halt the wider Middle East war, which was supposed to also pause fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
