Rubio Calls Aoun & Netanyahu on June 1; US Proposes Phased De-escalation Plan Ahead of Lebanon-Israel Round 4 Washington Talks (June 2–3)

June 1, 2026 — Secretary of State Marco Rubio conducted separate telephone calls with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on June 1 to prepare both parties for the upcoming Round 4 political-track talks in Washington, scheduled for June 2–3. According to Pakistan Today, Rubio tabled a phased de-escalation proposal as a framework for the discussions: in Phase 1, Hezbollah would cease all offensive operations against Israel; in exchange, Israel would refrain from further escalation in the greater Beirut area. The proposal is designed to stabilize the security environment sufficiently for the political-track talks to address the core structural issues — border demarcation, IDF withdrawal timeline from southern Lebanon, LAF deployment to the south, and long-term Hezbollah disarmament from the Litani line. Round 4 follows directly from the May 29 Pentagon security track meeting in which Brigadier General Georges Rizkallah led a Lebanese military delegation of 6 officers in the first military-to-military bilateral of the process. The June 2–3 talks are the next critical milestone in the process, with the 45-day ceasefire extension (in force since May 17) counting down to its ~June 29 expiry. Israel is represented in the political track by Yechiel Leiter, Lebanon by Simon Karam. Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem remains opposed to the direct talks format and has urged the Lebanese government to withdraw from the Washington process. The core impasse — Israeli insistence on verified Hezbollah disarmament south of the Litani before full IDF withdrawal vs. Lebanon's demand for unconditional IDF withdrawal first — has not been resolved.