White House reveals how Trump, Rubio and State Department orchestrated Israel-Lebanon ceasefire
The White House confirmed Thursday that Israel and Lebanon worked with the State Department to formulate a Memorandum of Understanding for a ceasefire, and outlined the steps that led to it.
The State Department met Tuesday with the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors, and Lebanon acknowledged that Hezbollah was a mutual problem for both countries, the White House said.
Following that meeting, President Trump spoke with Prime Minister Netanyahu, who agreed to a ceasefire under certain terms. Secretary Rubio also called the president of Lebanon overnight on Wednesday and secured his agreement to the ceasefire.
On Thursday morning, Trump spoke directly with the president of Lebanon, followed by another call with Prime Minister Netanyahu to finalize the agreement.
As these calls were taking place, the State Department was simultaneously working with both governments to draft a Memorandum of Understanding for the ceasefire, the White House told Fox News.
“The U.S. hopes this ceasefire will help accelerate discussions between Lebanon and Israel to achieve a permanent peace agreement between the two countries,” the White House said.
Peter Doocy contributed to this report.
Fox News
