U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s latest effort to broker a ceasefire in Lebanon has stalled just as Israel is expanding its ground operation and moving toward strikes on Hezbollah targets in Beirut, Axios reported Monday.
According to the report, Rubio spoke over the past 48 hours with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in an attempt to advance a new de-escalation initiative. Under the proposal, Hezbollah would first halt its missile and drone attacks on Israel, while Israel would avoid escalation in Beirut.
A U.S. official said that Aoun supported the initiative and asked Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri, who heads a major Shiite party and has ties to Hezbollah, to press the terrorist organization to stop firing at Israel. But according to the U.S. official, Berri gave an “evasive and disappointing” response, arguing that Israel should be the first to stop firing.
“The U.S. does not expect Israel to absorb ongoing attacks on its civilians by a terrorist organization,” the U.S. official said, suggesting Washington’s opposition to Israeli strikes in Beirut could soften.
The American push comes amid broader U.S. efforts to prevent the fighting in Lebanon from spiraling further out of control, in part because the Trump administration is also trying to reach an agreement with Iran. According to the report, the memorandum of understanding being discussed between Washington and Tehran includes an end to the fighting in Lebanon.
But on the ground, the conflict is moving in the opposite direction.
Against the backdrop of the reported ceasefire initiative, Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said Monday they had instructed the IDF to strike Hezbollah targets in Beirut’s Dahieh district after days of rocket and drone fire on northern Israel.
“Following the repeated and ongoing violations of the ceasefire in Lebanon by the terrorist organization Hezbollah and the attacks against our cities and citizens, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and I have instructed the IDF to strike terrorist targets in the Dahieh neighborhood in Beirut,” Katz said.
Netanyahu issued a similar statement, saying: “In response to the repeated and ongoing violations of the ceasefire in Lebanon by the terrorist organization Hezbollah and the attacks against our cities and citizens, I have instructed the IDF, together with Defense Minister Israel Katz, to strike terrorist targets in the Dahieh district of Beirut.”
The move follows days of intensified Hezbollah fire across the north. On Sunday, Netanyahu said he had ordered the IDF to expand its maneuver in Lebanon, adding that Israeli forces had crossed the Litani River, seized controlling terrain and were deepening their hold in areas previously controlled by Hezbollah. “We broke the barrier of fear,” Netanyahu said.