As part of the US push for a ceasefire in Lebanon, a US official told Axios today that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke over the past 48 hours with both Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an attempt to advance a new ceasefire initiative.

According to what Axios correspondent Barak Ravid reported on the X platform, the US official said that the new initiative was introduced within the context of ongoing negotiations between Israel and Lebanon.

To strengthen these talks, the United States has proposed, as a first step, that Hezbollah stop all of its attacks on Israel. In return, Israel would refrain from escalation in Beirut, according to a US official.

According to the US official, this would pave the way for a gradual de-escalation and an effective halt to hostilities.

🚨🇺🇸🇮🇱🇱🇧Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke over the last 48 hours with both Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to try and push forward a new ceasefire initiative, a U.S. official told me
🚨🇺🇸🇮🇱🇱🇧The U.S. official said the new initiative was…

— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) June 1, 2026

However, these US efforts have “failed,” according to sources cited by Axios, at a time when Israel is expanding its ground incursion and seeking US approval to carry out large scale strikes on Hezbollah targets in Beirut.

Axios also quoted Israeli officials as saying that Israel has asked the Trump administration to allow it to carry out major strikes in Beirut.

In addition, the US official said that President Aoun tried to put forward this proposal and reach an agreement on it, but the response of Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri was evasive and disappointing, according to a US official.

From the Lebanese-Israeli meeting at the White House (AFP).

Axios correspondent adds in his post, quoting the US official: “Berri claimed that he guarantees Hezbollah’s commitment to a ceasefire, but he blamed Israel for stopping the fire first, even though Hezbollah is the one that started this round of fighting.”

The US official stressed that “Hezbollah is following in the footsteps of Tehran, and it is clear that it does not care about the interests of the Lebanese people,” claiming that “Iran is seeking to prolong the conflict in Lebanon in order to credit itself with ‘saving the situation’.”

The official concluded by stressing that “the United States does not expect Israel to tolerate the ongoing attacks carried out by Hezbollah against civilians,” as he put it, adding that “the fastest way to calm the situation and protect civilians on all sides is for Hezbollah to immediately stop firing.”