U.S. Counselor Michael Needham, U.S. Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa, Lebanon's Ambassador to the U.S. Nada Hamadeh Moawad, and Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter, on April 14, 2026. (Credit: Oliver Contreras/AFP)
From the American and Israeli standpoint, everything appeared carefully orchestrated. For Lebanon, however, it translated into mounting pressure.Washington and Tel Aviv are speaking of a peace process and the end of Hezbollah’s influence, while Beirut had hoped to push first for a cease-fire, without yet venturing into any broader path toward peace.The direct Lebanese-Israeli meeting at the ambassadorial level in Washington on Tuesday, the first in decades, was opened by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in unambiguous terms: no guarantee of a cease-fire, but rather the start of a process meant to unfold over time — one during which Israeli military operations in Lebanon are, in all likelihood, set to continue.Rubio described it as a “historic opportunity,” stressing that Washington is acting in response to decades of complexity that...
From the American and Israeli standpoint, everything appeared carefully orchestrated. For Lebanon, however, it translated into mounting pressure.Washington and Tel Aviv are speaking of a peace process and the end of Hezbollah’s influence, while Beirut had hoped to push first for a cease-fire, without yet venturing into any broader path toward peace.The direct Lebanese-Israeli meeting at the ambassadorial level in Washington on Tuesday, the first in decades, was opened by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in unambiguous terms: no guarantee of a cease-fire, but rather the start of a process meant to unfold over time — one during which Israeli military operations in Lebanon are, in all likelihood, set to continue.Rubio described it as a “historic opportunity,” stressing that Washington is acting in response to decades of...
Rubio condemns Iran's 'outrageous' attacks on Kuwait
