The fourth round of Lebanese-Israeli negotiations kicks off in Washington in the absence of Rubio

The fourth session of the Lebanese-Israeli negotiations, in its political track, kicked off at the US State Department in the absence of Minister Marco Rubio and without permits.

Army Commander Rodolphe Hekal is following the course of the fourth round of negotiations with the President of the Republic at the Presidential Palace.

Ahead of the session, Baabda sources said that yesterday's contacts will ease the negotiating atmosphere today, and thanks to everyone who contributed to the agreement to neutralize the southern suburb in exchange for not striking Israel.

They pointed out that the demand of the Lebanese delegation will be a comprehensive ceasefire, and it is clear that the opportunity has become greater today after yesterday's contacts.

They added: "Hezbollah must announce whether it agreed or did not agree to the agreement to neutralize the southern suburb in exchange for stopping strikes on Israel," stressing that all communication with those concerned from Hezbollah or Speaker Berri takes place directly.

The sources indicated that there are material and realistic circumstances that imposed this deal, and we will start from it to go towards expanding the negotiation track, and the Lebanese delegation is ready to discuss any draft declaration of intent, and a retreat occurred previously from the Israeli side after it became clear that Lebanon's point of view was preponderant.

They added: "Lebanon's position is complete and integrated regarding the parallelism between two tracks: the Israeli withdrawal and the return of prisoners, the extension of state authority, and the monopolization of weapons by the state."

They explained that the decision to issue a "declaration of intent" at the conclusion of the negotiation round has not been decided yet, and the Lebanese delegation is ready to discuss the draft declaration, while the Israeli side has backed away from it.

In response to a question about the existence of guarantees not to bomb the southern suburb, Baabda sources said: "It seems that President Trump is the guarantor."

A Western diplomatic source also confirmed to Al-Hadath channel that Iran should not be given the final say regarding the Lebanese file, stressing the necessity of not linking Lebanon's fate to the Islamabad talks.

The source pointed out that the United States' move towards an agreement with Iran prompted Israel to escalate in Lebanon, given the overlap between diplomatic tracks and field developments.

He added that Washington is pushing towards positive developments regarding Lebanon, opening the way for de-escalation and finding a political way out of the crisis.

The correspondent of Al-Jadeed TV in Washington reported that after the announcement of Hezbollah's acceptance of the American proposal to stop mutual attacks, the priority for the United States has become focused on consolidating this understanding, rather than quickly moving to discuss a broad political agreement.

He pointed out that the continuation of Israeli military operations in southern Lebanon, and linking the withdrawal to subsequent negotiations, may constitute the most prominent point of contention in the ongoing Lebanese-Israeli talks, which could complicate reaching a final understanding.

For his part, a source in the Lebanese delegation told LBCI: We have a feeling that the negotiations will be positive this week, and we hope that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will attend today's negotiating session, but this is not yet certain.

MTV information revealed that the call between President Joseph Aoun and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio included an American proposal based on the party issuing a statement announcing that it had stopped firing, but "the party" rejected this matter.

It pointed to a direct call that brought together President Aoun and Berri, where the latter was informed of Trump's proposal, which he conveyed to Ambassador Muwad, and President Aoun also communicated with the party through envoys and informed them of Trump's proposal.

The information added: "Trump's proposal is based on Israel stopping its attacks on Beirut in exchange for the party refraining from striking Israel, with this proposal to be completed with a comprehensive ceasefire in all Lebanese territories."

In addition, it is expected that the Saudi envoy, Prince Yazid bin Farhan, and the new Saudi Ambassador, Fahd bin Ali Al-Dosari, along with the new embassy staff, will arrive in Lebanon in the next few hours.

MTV website learned that bin Farhan, whose visit will coincide with the visit of French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian, will meet with a number of Lebanese figures as part of the Kingdom's efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement.

In context, LBC information reported that the political assistant to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, MP Ali Hassan Khalil, began his meetings in the Qatari capital, Doha, as an envoy from Speaker Nabih Berri.

Khalil started these meetings with Qatari officials by meeting with the Minister of State at the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi.

Then he presented to the Prime Minister and Qatari Foreign Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, the latest developments and efforts made to de-escalate and reach a comprehensive ceasefire.

According to the same information, Khalil conveyed to the Qatari Prime Minister the thanks of Speaker Berri to Qatar, its Emir, government, and people, for their constant standing by Lebanon and supporting it in various fields, and appreciation for the efforts made by Doha to reach a comprehensive ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel, in addition to what it constantly does to provide stability within Lebanon and rebuild what was destroyed by the Israeli aggression on Lebanon.