U.S.-Brokered Talks Open in Rome to Implement Lebanon-Israel Framework

Brokered talks opened July 14 at the U.S. embassy in Rome to implement a framework agreement reached in Washington on June 26. The agreement outlines an end to the conflict that resumed March 2, disarmament of militant groups, deployment of Lebanese troops in the south, and progressive Israeli withdrawal.

A U.S. State Department official said the talks were positive and would continue July 15, adding that both sides were eager to move forward. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar stated that implementing the framework agreement was the only way forward and that Israel would demonstrate goodwill by advancing two pilot zones.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun instructed his delegation to demand the immediate start of Israeli withdrawal from the pilot zones before any other discussion. A U.S. official said last week that the first pilot zone would launch within days, with U.S.

Central Command coordinating the effort. The Rome talks aim to set out concrete steps for the pilot zones. Israel occupies a buffer zone roughly 10 km into southern Lebanon along the border, an area off-limits to Lebanese army soldiers.

Israeli forces have displaced residents and conducted controlled explosions in villages in southern Lebanon, citing destruction of Hezbollah infrastructure. Hezbollah has rejected the June 26 agreement. Israel has said its troops will remain in southern Lebanon as long as Hezbollah remains armed.

More than 4,000 Lebanese have been killed and more than a million displaced since March 2, according to Lebanon’s health ministry. At least 32 Israeli soldiers and four Israeli civilians have been killed by Hezbollah in the same period. Reuters reported in May that several thousand Hezbollah fighters had been killed.