U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio intends to participate in direct Israeli-Lebanese talks on Tuesday in what is expected to start reestablishing a ceasefire on Israel’s northern border and to lead, potentially, to longer-term peace between the states.

A State Department official confirmed that Rubio will meet in person with Yechiel Leiter, the Israeli ambassador to the United States, and Nada Hamadeh, the Lebanese envoy in Washington. Michel Issa, U.S. envoy to Lebanon, and Michael Needham, State Department counselor, are also scheduled to attend.

“As a direct result of Hezbollah’s reckless actions, the Israeli and Lebanese governments are engaging in open, direct, high-level diplomatic talks—the first such talks since 1993—brokered by the United States,” the official said.

Hezbollah, the U.S.-designated terror group that has long controlled southern Lebanon, joined its Iranian patron on March 2 in its war against the United States and Israel. That led to mass displacement both in Israel’s north and Lebanon’s south, as well as a large number of casualties and Israeli military incursions deep into Lebanese territory.

A fragile two-week ceasefire was called in the U.S. and Israeli war against Iran on April 8. Tehran insists that Lebanon was included in that ceasefire, but Washington said it wasn’t and Israeli strikes have continued. Some in the international community have been critical of continued military action, fearing that it could trigger a return to fighting elsewhere around the region.

Israel faults the Lebanese government for failing to live up to its pledge to finally disarm Hezbollah following Israeli actions that decimated the terror group’s command structure.

The dialogue on Tuesday at the State Department is scheduled to focus on “how to ensure the long-term security of Israel’s northern border and to support the government of Lebanon’s determination to reclaim full sovereignty over its territory and political life,” according to the State Department official.

The official said that Israel is at war with Hezbollah and not the Lebanese state, “so there is no reason the two neighbors should not be talking.”

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