“This is a historic opportunity,” Rubio said during public opening remarks. “We understand we’re working against decades of history and complexities that have led us to this unique moment.”

“And the opportunity here — I know some of you were shouting questions about a ceasefire,” he added. “This is a lot more than just about that. This is about bringing a permanent end to 20 or 30 years of Hezbollah’s influence in this part of the world and the — not just the damage that it’s inflicted on Israel, the damage that it’s inflicted on the Lebanese people.”

Hezbollah is not only a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, but it is also a political party with a parliamentary bloc in the government.

The two sides came together in Washington on Tuesday as the United States simultaneously works to negotiate an end to the war against Iran.

After the meeting, principal deputy spokesman Tommy Pigott said in a statement the United States “underscored that these negotiations have the potential to unlock significant reconstruction assistance and economic recovery for Lebanon and expand investment opportunities for both countries.”

Israel committed to working with the Lebanese government to “ensure security for the people of countries,” and “expressed its commitment to engage in direct negotiations to resolve all outstanding issues and achieve a durable peace that will strengthen security, stability and prosperity in the region,” Pigott added.

In the hours after the two-week U.S.-Iranian ceasefire went into effect, Israel carried out one of its largest rounds of strikes in Lebanon, which Iranian leaders said violated the agreement, though U.S. and Israeli leaders disputed Lebanon’s inclusion in the deal.

The strikes last Wednesday killed more than 250 Hezbollah militants, Israeli officials said, while Lebanon’s health ministry said more than 100 women and children were among the over 350 people killed.

Rubio also said “our hope here” is to “begin to move forward to create the framework where something can happen,” though he acknowledged that with “all of the complexities of this matter are not going to be resolved in the next six hours.”

A senior Hezbollah leader said on Monday, in anticipation of the meeting, that the group would not abide by any agreement that may come from the negotiations.

“As for the outcomes of this negotiation between Lebanon and the Israeli enemy, we are not interested in or concerned with them at all,” Wafiq Safa, a high-ranking member of Hezbollah’s political council, told the Associated Press. “We are not bound by what they agree to.”

HIGH STAKES NEGOTIATIONS ON IRAN, ISRAEL, AND LEBANON TO PLAY OUT: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Israel and Hezbollah have fought multiple wars since the latter’s inception. Most recently, the two sides renewed hostilities on March 2, following the start of the war in Iran. The two sides had agreed to a ceasefire in late 2024 to end the war that had begun in the aftermath of Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack in southern Israel.

The 2024 ceasefire agreement called for Israel to withdraw its troops in southern Lebanon in exchange for the Lebanese army demilitarizing the area south of the Litani River, which would create a roughly 20-mile buffer from there to the Israeli border, from Hezbollah fighters and their stockpiles.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in late March that Israeli forces would “control” the area south of the Litani River following the current war.

This deal was designed to implement the 2006 United Nations resolution that ended the monthlong war then.