Israeli and Lebanese delegations began U.S.-mediated talks in Rome on Tuesday aimed at advancing the implementation of a framework agreement to end months of fighting in the border area with the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group.
The discussions are taking place at the U.S. Embassy in the Italian capital through Wednesday, and follow the deal reached in Washington on June 26 during the fifth round of negotiations between representatives of Beirut and Jerusalem.
Arrangements for a potential Israeli withdrawal from Southern Lebanon and the deployment of Lebanese forces will be on the table, in accordance with the agreement, Reuters reported, citing officials familiar with the talks.
The 14-point Israel-Lebanon Trilateral Framework Agreement also calls for the disarmament of Hezbollah, and Jerusalem has emphasized that an Israeli withdrawal will occur only once the threat from the Iranian terror proxy is removed.
Israeli forces are positioned within a security zone extending about 10 km (6 miles) into Lebanon along the entire Israeli border. The June 26 agreement identified two “pilot zones” north and south of the Litani River in which Israeli troops would be replaced by the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), while Hezbollah and other non-state armed groups would be disarmed.
A U.S. official said last week that the U.S. military’s Central Command (CENTCOM) was coordinating with Lebanon and Israel to launch the pilot zones. A U.S. military delegation was in Lebanon over the weekend to discuss the plan in detail with the Lebanese army, sources told Reuters.
In a CBS News interview broadcast on Sunday, Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter, who is leading the talks for Jerusalem, said the Rome meetings will focus on creating conditions for the LAF to assume control in designated areas so that Israel can begin a phased withdrawal—but only if the Iranian terror proxy is dismantled.
“What the agreement with Lebanon does is completely remove Iran from the paradigm,” Leiter told “Face the Nation” moderator Margaret Brennan, adding that Jerusalem and Beirut “are on the same page” in seeking to push Hezbollah out for Israel’s security and Lebanon’s sovereignty.
He said Israel “can withdraw the moment that Hezbollah is dismantled,” but that the military will have to remain in the security zone if the terrorist group retains its arms, “because we’re not going to go back to a situation where our citizens are going to be threatened by an Iranian proxy firing missiles and building tunnels so they can attack, like Hamas did on Oct. 7,” referring to the 2023 mass murder and kidnappings in southern Israel led by the Gaza-based terrorist organization that sparked a multi-front war with Tehran and its regional terror proxies.
Hezbollah renewed its rocket and drone attacks from Southern Lebanon against Israel on March 2, following the targeted killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on the first day of “Operation Roaring Lion” on Feb. 28.
In response, Jerusalem launched a broad aerial campaign against Hezbollah targets and expanded military operations in Lebanon aimed at preventing cross-border attacks on Israeli communities.
Following the resumption of hostilities, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun vowed to do “the impossible” to stop cross-border hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah and moved to outlaw the Iranian proxy.
Israeli and Lebanese officials subsequently held five rounds of direct talks at the U.S. State Department, resulting in the framework of understandings reached last month, which is conditioned on Hezbollah’s removal from Southern Lebanon.
