US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee will be part of the US delegation for upcoming direct talks between Israel and Lebanon, a US State Department official told CNN on Tuesday.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will again participate in the talks, along with US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa and State Department counselor Michael Needham.
Israel and Lebanon will again be represented by their ambassadors to the US, Yechiel Leiter and Nada Hamadeh Moawad, respectively.
The talks, scheduled to take place on Thursday at the US State Department, represent the second round of discussions at the ambassadorial level in as many weeks. They come amid a fragile 10-day ceasefire in Lebanon.
According to the State Department official, Huckabee “will conduct routine consultations with State Department leadership and interagency partners, including discussions on regional issues" during his time in Washington, DC.
The first round of talks took place last week. Following the talks, Leiter praised Lebanese leaders, saying, "We have the courage to pursue peace through strength, and to work tirelessly for tranquility and prosperity for all."
"At the negotiations table, I commended President Joseph Aoun and his government for not allowing itself to be held hostage to the threats of Hezbollah’s leader," he added.
"Naim Qassem and Hezbollah belong to the past; we are here for the future," Leiter continued. "Above all, safeguarding the security of Israeli citizens along the northern border remains our supreme objective and top priority."
Several days after the talks, President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel which went into effect this past Friday.
Hezbollah has violated the ceasefire several times since it began, including on Tuesday, when the terror group fired an unmanned aerial vehicle toward Israeli territory and also fired towards IDF troops operating in Lebanese territory.