US proposes new plan to ease Israel-Lebanon tensions amid fighting

U.S. 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 U.S. official said ​on Sunday.
The U.S. has proposed that as a first ​step, the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group would stop ⁠all attacks on Israel and in return Israel would ​refrain from escalation in Beirut, the official said.

"This would create ​space for gradual de-escalation and an effective cessation of hostilities," according to the official.