US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with both Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the diplomatic negotiations between Israel and Lebanon and has proposed a plan to allow for “gradual de-escalation,” a US official said on Sunday. The US has proposed that as a first step, the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group would stop all attacks on Israel and in return Israel would refrain from escalation in Beirut, the official said.
