Hezbollah needs to cease attacks first: US official

UNITED STATES, June 1: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the ongoing diplomatic negotiations, a senior US official told AFP Sunday, asserting that Hezbollah must be the first to cease its attacks.

"To advance those talks, the United States proposed a clear sequence: Hezbollah must stop all attacks on Israel. In return, Israel would refrain from escalation in Beirut," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, about the conversations between the three leaders.