Lebanon and Israel meet in Rome on troop withdrawal plan

Lebanese and Israeli officials began talks in Rome on Tuesday over how to carry out a US-brokered framework deal intended to end the war in Lebanon. The discussions matter because Beirut is seeking an Israeli pullback from southern Lebanon, while Israel says its forces will stay as long as Hezbollah remains armed.

Lebanese officials told Reuters that delegations from both countries were meeting for two days at the US embassy in the Italian capital. One Lebanese official said the Rome setting would allow both sides to consult their governments more easily while negotiations continued.

Lebanon’s presidency said President Joseph Aoun directed the Lebanese delegation to demand an immediate Israeli withdrawal from two designated areas in southern Lebanon before any further discussions with Israel at the meeting.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Monday that Italy had offered to host the talks to support efforts toward what he called a genuine ceasefire in Lebanon. Tajani said before a European Union meeting in Brussels that Rome could serve as “a capital of peace.”

Framework deal faces resistance

The Rome meetings follow a June 26 session in Washington that produced an agreement calling for the end of Israel’s war in Lebanon, the disarmament of armed groups, the deployment of Lebanese troops in the south and a phased Israeli withdrawal, according to Reuters. The reference to armed groups was widely understood to point to Hezbollah.

Implementation remains uncertain. Reuters reported that Israeli attacks have continued, Hezbollah has rejected the agreement and efforts to disarm it, and Israel has said its troops will remain in southern Lebanon while Hezbollah keeps its weapons.

Hezbollah and Israel returned to war on March 2 amid a broader regional conflict, according to Reuters. US-led diplomacy has continued despite objections from the Iran-aligned group.

In mid-June, the United States and Iran agreed that fighting would stop on all fronts, including Israel’s war in Lebanon, Reuters reported. Israel, however, views its conflict with Hezbollah as a national security issue and has continued strikes.

Pilot zones under discussion

Israel’s military is occupying what it calls a buffer zone extending about 10 kilometers, or 6 miles, into Lebanon along the border, according to Reuters. Israeli officials say the area is needed to protect northern Israeli communities from Hezbollah attacks.

Aoun said in comments released by his office Monday that he hoped the Rome meeting would produce “tangible and practical steps on the ground” to carry out the agreement. He said those steps should include the start of an Israeli withdrawal so the Lebanese army can deploy in the south.

One Lebanese official told Reuters that Lebanon would seek a gradual, sequential Israeli withdrawal “one zone after another.” The official was referring to a pilot-zone plan under which Hezbollah would disarm, Israeli forces would leave and Lebanese troops would deploy area by area in southern Lebanon.

The June 26 agreement identified two zones as a starting point, Reuters reported. A US official said last week that US Central Command was coordinating with Lebanon and Israel to begin work on the pilot zones, and sources told Reuters that a US military delegation was in Lebanon over the weekend to discuss the plan with the Lebanese army.

Israel’s military says it is destroying Hezbollah infrastructure, including underground tunnels, in southern Lebanon. Reuters reported that the military has forced Lebanese residents from their homes and carried out controlled explosions of entire villages.

More than 4,000 Lebanese people have been killed and more than 1 million displaced since March, according to Lebanon’s health ministry. Reuters reported that Hezbollah has killed at least 32 Israeli soldiers and four Israeli civilians, most of them in southern Lebanon, since Israel began its attacks.

This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.