Israel, Lebanon sign framework peace agreement following US-backed negotiations

Israel and Lebanon signed a framework peace agreement on Friday — icing out Iran and its proxy group Hezbollah — following four days of negotiations in Washington.“In this performance-based trilateral framework agreement, Iran is out, Hezbollah is out, and the road to peace between Israel and Lebanon is in,” Israeli ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter said at a signing ceremony.Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the agreement as a “first step” to returning Lebanon to its prior prosperity before Hezbollah moved in and promoted terrorism.Follow The Post’s live coverage of President Trump and national politics for the latest news and analysis“The people of Lebanon have suffered tremendously now for decades as a result of outside interference in their affairs of countries trying to use the country as a launchpad for attacks, and this is not what the people of Lebanon want.That’s not what they deserve,” he said.“What they deserve to have is what they once had — and of which there is recent history of — and that is a prosperous and peaceful country, a diverse country where people of different backgrounds were able to live and coexist side by side in many ways was the envy of the region and of the world,” he continued.

“It will take a lot of work and some time to get back to that point, but we believe today is the first step in that journey.”...