Lebanon and Israel begin a seventh round of US-sponsored direct negotiations in Rome on Tuesday, as Beirut seeks to secure sequential Israeli withdrawals from the south of the country.
اضافة اعلان
Following five rounds of talks, Lebanon and Israel concluded a framework agreement on June 26, which specifically provides for the disarmament of Hezbollah, Israel's gradual withdrawal from the territories it occupies in southern Lebanon, and the deployment of the Lebanese Army starting from "pilot zones."
Washington and Rome announced last week that the round of talks begins Tuesday and runs through Thursday.
In a statement on Monday following calls with the heads of the Lebanese and Israeli delegations, Simon Karam and Yechiel Leiter, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani urged both sides "to continue working in a constructive spirit by identifying joint solutions that enable the full implementation of the framework agreement."
The previous round hosted in Rome resulted in an agreement for the Israeli army to withdraw from the outskirts of the town of Zawtar al-Gharbiya—one of the "pilot zones" under the agreement—prior to the deployment of the Lebanese Army, which permitted residents to enter following survey and inspection operations.
Presiding over a cabinet meeting on Monday, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam reaffirmed "the pursuit of sequential Israeli withdrawals from Lebanese territory, leading up to a complete withdrawal from Lebanon."
On Tuesday, Hezbollah renewed its rejection of direct negotiations with Israel, stating that they "will bring Lebanon nothing but shame, humiliation, disappointment, and successive concessions."
A US State Department official said last week that "technical delegations in Rome will focus on driving forward the full implementation of the framework agreement," pointing to the expansion of the "pilot zones," efforts to resolve pending border issues, and the drafting of a comprehensive peace and security agreement.
However, US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa warned on Monday against "rushing forward" with the agreement's implementation, cautioning that it "could put civilians, whom this process aims to protect, at risk."
"We believe that taking the necessary time to complete this work... will contribute to enabling subsequent pilot zones to launch more efficiently," he added in a statement.
He noted that both parties must agree on "a clear and practical mechanism before proceeding to the next phase" of the agreement.
Under the framework agreement, the Lebanese Army is expected—upon deploying in the "pilot zones"—to disarm Hezbollah within those areas and ban any military presence of any group outside state forces. This is intended to serve as a test case for a gradual Israeli withdrawal from other regions.
Experts say the greatest challenge will arise when designating new "pilot zones" occupied by Israel, serving as a test of its seriousness regarding actual withdrawal, as well as the army's ability to deploy and dismantle any military infrastructure belonging to Hezbollah.
Hezbollah refuses to surrender its arms and rejects the outcomes of direct negotiations with Israel.
The recent war broke out after Hezbollah launched rockets toward Israel in response to the killing of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei at the onset of the US-Israeli attack on Iran. Israel retaliated with a wide-ranging campaign of airstrikes and a ground invasion of the south.
The pace of violence in southern Lebanon has significantly abated since the signing of the memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran in June, coinciding with ongoing negotiations between Lebanon and Israel.
However, Israel—which repeatedly asserts its intention to maintain forces in southern Lebanon within a "security zone" extending up to ten kilometers along its border—continues to carry out massive demolition and blasting operations in towns, the most prominent of which targeted the vicinity of the historic Beaufort Castle area on Thursday night.
AFP
