US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the signing of the US-mediated framework agreement between Lebanon and Israel “begins to put in place a framework for lasting peace and security,” which is what “these two nations deserve”. “The people of Lebanon have suffered tremendously now for decades as a result of outside interference in their affairs, of countries trying to use the country as a launchpad for attacks, and this is not what the people of Lebanon want and that’s not what they deserve,” he added following the signing of the agreement in Washington. “What they deserve to have is what they once had, and of which there is recent history of, and that is a prosperous and peaceful country, a diverse country where people of different backgrounds are able to live and coexist side by side and, in many ways, was the envy of the region and of the world,” he stressed. “It will take a lot of work and some time to get back to that point, but we believe today is the first step in that journey. And the first step is sometimes the hardest step, but it’s the one we’re taking together today,” he remarked. Lebanon, Israel and the United States on Friday signed a trilateral framework agreement aimed at paving the way for a peace deal between the two long-time Middle East adversaries. The agreement -- which includes a pilot effort in which Lebanese soldiers take control of two areas occupied by Israel, as well as a process aimed at disarming Hezbollah -- is the result of five rounds of talks in the US capital. Rubio said the people of Israel, particularly those in the north, “have been targeted repeatedly by terrorist attacks launched from the territory of Lebanon, but not by the Lebanese people, not by the Lebanese Government, but by an outside actor who has sought to use that territory to target innocent civilians who have been unable to live in these places for a long time.” “There is a lot of work ahead. We don’t in any way underestimate the difficulty of the task ahead. But we understand the importance of it, how vital it is, and we are honored to have played a part in bringing this together,” he went on to say. “Hopefully we’ll make real and tangible progress so that the people of both of these countries can be hopeful about their future – a future of peace, a future of prosperity, a future of mutual coexistence in a way that’s beneficial to the men and women and children, including those not yet born, who deserve what all people deserve, and that is the right to live in their country without fear of harm, without fear of war, without fear of conflict,” Rubio said. Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the broader Middle East war on March 2 with rocket fire aimed at Israel to avenge the killing of Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes. Israel responded with heavy airstrikes and a ground invasion, and its troops continue to occupy swaths of southern Lebanon, where they have been carrying out extensive demolition of homes and other buildings. The conflict has displaced more than one million Lebanese and left more than 4,200 dead, according to Lebanese authorities.
