U.S.-brokered negotiations are focused on converting a June 26 framework into phased Israeli withdrawals, Hezbollah disarmament and Lebanese army deployments across southern Lebanon as fighting continues.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Lebanese and Israeli officials returned to negotiations Tuesday at the U.S. Embassy in Rome, seeking to establish a practical sequence for ending the conflict in Lebanon, withdrawing Israeli forces from the south and expanding Lebanese army control over territory now occupied by Israel.
The two-day meeting follows a June 26 agreement reached in Washington that outlined three central objectives: ending the fighting, disarming militant organizations and progressively replacing Israeli troops in southern Lebanon with forces from the Lebanese army.
Although the framework did not identify Hezbollah by name in its disarmament provision, the language was widely understood as applying to the Iran-backed group.
The negotiations are proceeding despite limited expectations for an immediate breakthrough. Israel continues to conduct deadly strikes inside Lebanon, Hezbollah has rejected the framework and efforts to disarm it, and the Israeli government has said its military will not withdraw while Hezbollah retains its weapons.
Lebanon is entering the talks with a proposal for Israeli forces to leave southern territory incrementally rather than through a single comprehensive withdrawal.
One Lebanese official said Beirut would seek a gradual and sequential pullout “one zone after another.” Under the proposed pilot-zone approach, Hezbollah would surrender its weapons in a designated area, Israel would remove its forces and the Lebanese army would assume responsibility for security there.
The process would then be repeated in additional sections of southern Lebanon.
Two initial zones were identified in the June 26 framework as possible starting points. U.S. Central Command is coordinating with Lebanese and Israeli officials on preparations for those areas, according to a U.S. official.
A U.S. military delegation visited Lebanon over the weekend and discussed the pilot-zone plan in detail with the Lebanese army, sources said.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said he wanted the Rome negotiations to produce visible changes rather than another statement of diplomatic intentions.
Aoun expressed hope that the meeting would result in “tangible and practical steps on the ground” toward implementing the agreement. He also called for Israel to begin withdrawing its forces so the Lebanese army could deploy across the south.
Israeli troops currently occupy what Israel describes as a security buffer extending approximately 10 kilometers, or 6 miles, into Lebanon along the full length of the countries’ shared border.
Israeli officials argue that the occupied zone is necessary to protect communities in northern Israel from Hezbollah attacks.
The government in Beirut, however, is seeking the restoration of Lebanese authority over the area and the removal of Israeli troops under the U.S.-brokered framework.
Israeli officials have conditioned any withdrawal on Hezbollah’s disarmament. Hezbollah, meanwhile, has rejected both the agreement and demands that it surrender its weapons.
That standoff leaves the negotiations dependent on whether the parties can agree to a synchronized process in which disarmament, withdrawal and Lebanese army deployment occur together, section by section.
The decision to hold the talks in Rome rather than Washington or the region was intended to make consultations easier during the negotiations. A Lebanese official said the location would allow both delegations to seek instructions from their respective governments as discussions progressed Tuesday and Wednesday.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Italy offered to host the meeting as part of efforts to secure an authentic ceasefire.
“We are also very pleased that Rome can serve as the venue for these meetings,” Tajani said Monday ahead of a European Union gathering in Brussels. “In this way, our capital becomes a capital of peace.”
The negotiations represent the latest stage of a U.S.-led diplomatic effort that gained momentum after Hezbollah and Israel returned to open warfare March 2 amid a broader regional conflict.
That diplomacy has continued over Hezbollah’s objections. The group maintains that Iranian pressure on Washington, rather than direct negotiations led by the United States, is the only effective means of ending the war and compelling an Israeli withdrawal.
Iran included an end to the Lebanon conflict among its demands in an interim agreement signed with Washington last month. Renewed hostilities between the United States and Iran in the Gulf during the past week, however, have placed that agreement under strain and added uncertainty to the Lebanon negotiations.
Conditions inside southern Lebanon remain unstable while diplomacy proceeds.
Lebanese officials and humanitarian accounts say Israeli forces have displaced residents and carried out controlled demolitions in villages within the occupied area.
Israel says those operations are intended to destroy Hezbollah’s military infrastructure, including underground tunnels.
The human cost has continued to rise since major fighting resumed in March.
More than 4,000 people have been killed in Lebanon and more than 1 million have been displaced during Israel’s military campaign against Hezbollah, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.
The ministry’s total does not specify how many of those killed were combatants. Hezbollah has not publicly disclosed its military losses.
Reuters reported May 3 that several thousand Hezbollah fighters had been killed.
On the Israeli side, at least 32 soldiers and four civilians have been killed by Hezbollah since the latest phase of fighting began. Most of the Israeli military deaths occurred in southern Lebanon.
The continued attacks underscore the difficulty of implementing the Washington framework. A ceasefire has not taken hold, Israel remains inside Lebanon, Hezbollah remains armed and neither side has accepted the other’s preferred sequence for de-escalation.
Lebanon wants Israeli troops to begin leaving so its army can move south. Israel says withdrawal cannot safely proceed while Hezbollah retains the ability to attack northern communities.
The pilot-zone plan is intended to address that sequencing problem by tying each Israeli withdrawal to Hezbollah disarmament and Lebanese military deployment within the same defined area.
If the first two zones are implemented successfully, the model could be extended through additional parts of southern Lebanon. Failure to agree on the initial areas, however, could prevent the broader framework from moving beyond diplomatic discussions.
The Rome meeting is therefore focused less on renegotiating the June 26 agreement than on determining who acts first, how compliance will be verified and how quickly each zone can be transferred to Lebanese army control.
With hostilities continuing and regional tensions rising, officials entered the talks seeking measurable progress but with little expectation that the central disputes over Hezbollah’s weapons and Israel’s occupation would be resolved quickly.
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