By Steve Holland and Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON, May 5 (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that peace between Israel and Lebanon was achievable but that the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah was a problem.
“By and large, I think a peace deal between Lebanon and Israel is imminently achievable, and should be,” Rubio told reporters at the White House.
“The problem with Israel and Lebanon is not Israel or Lebanon, it’s Hezbollah,” he added.
Lebanon’s government wants a permanent deal with U.S. ally Israel that would end a repeated cycle of Israeli invasions and strikes, while stopping short of saying it wants a peace agreement. Israel says any deal must permanently disarm Iran-backed Hezbollah.
“What has to happen in Lebanon, what everybody wants to see, is that you have a Lebanese government with the capability to go after Hezbollah and take Hezbollah apart,” Rubio said.
Israel intensified air attacks on Lebanon after Hezbollah fired missiles at Israel on March 2, three days into the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. Israel, thereafter, widened a ground invasion into Lebanon’s south.
Lebanon’s health ministry says more than 2,600 people have been killed in Israeli attacks since March 2, with over a million people being displaced. Israel says 17 of its soldiers have been killed in southern Lebanon while two civilians have been killed by Hezbollah attacks.
Israel and Lebanon agreed to a fragile ceasefire in mid-April which has since been extended into May.
However, Israel has maintained an occupation of southern Lebanon and demolished villages there, while Hezbollah has continued attacks on Israeli forces.
Tehran says any deal to end the wider Iran war must also halt Israeli attacks in Lebanon. Washington says the issues are separate.
(Reporting by Steve Holland and Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Michelle Nichols and Mark Porter)
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