US and Lebanon discuss first zones for Israeli pullback
Military teams met in Beirut on a US-brokered plan for Israel to withdraw from parts of southern Lebanon, while new strikes were reported.
By Lucas Ferreira · Science & Environment Writer
3 min read
Military delegations from the United States and Lebanon met in Beirut on Saturday to discuss the first steps of a plan for Israel to pull forces from parts of southern Lebanon. The talks focus on how to put into effect a US-brokered framework that could test Lebanese army control in limited areas, Lebanese sources told Al Jazeera.
The discussions centered on the first of two areas described in the agreement as “pilot zones,” according to Al Jazeera. Under the framework reached on June 26, Israel would withdraw in stages from parts of southern Lebanon where its troops have been fighting Hezbollah.
The plan would put two small areas under full Lebanese military control, Al Jazeera and AFP reported. Hezbollah has rejected the agreement, and the framework does not include a schedule for Israel’s withdrawal.
US team arrives for implementation talks
Lebanese media and the Financial Times reported that a US delegation had arrived in Beirut for the meetings. US Ambassador Michel Issa told Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Thursday that the delegation would work on the mechanism for carrying out the deal, according to Al Jazeera and AFP.
Israeli officials have said their forces will remain in a 10km, or six-mile, security zone as long as Hezbollah keeps its weapons, Al Jazeera and AFP reported. That position leaves the US-backed plan facing resistance from both Israel and Hezbollah.
Al Jazeera correspondent Heidi Pett reported from Lebanon that Hezbollah opposes direct negotiations between Lebanon and Israel. She said the group prefers to rely on a US-Iran ceasefire arrangement that also calls for a ceasefire in Lebanon, and that Hezbollah has not fired in Lebanon even after that ceasefire broke down this week.
New strikes reported in south Lebanon
The war began in early March after the United States and Israel attacked Iran, Al Jazeera and AFP reported. The conflict has forced more than 1 million people from their homes in Lebanon, according to the UN humanitarian agency OCHA.
OCHA said Saturday that more than 732,000 displaced people had returned home, compared with 640,000 a week earlier. About 430,000 people remain displaced, the agency said.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported several Israeli raids in southern Lebanon on Saturday. In the town of al-Mansouri in the Tyre district, seven people were injured in strikes on residential neighborhoods, NNA said.
NNA also reported that Israeli forces entered the eastern edge of Beit Yahoun with three tanks and several bulldozers. In Houla, the agency said Israeli forces set fires that damaged houses and olive trees, and it reported that homes were blown up in the Nabatieh district.
Lebanon and Israel, which do not have formal diplomatic relations, have held five rounds of negotiations since the war began, according to Al Jazeera and AFP. The next talks are expected in Rome on Wednesday and Thursday, but Lebanon has made its participation conditional on an Israeli withdrawal from the two pilot zones.
The diplomacy comes before Aoun’s expected visit to Washington later this month at the invitation of US President Donald Trump, Al Jazeera and AFP reported.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.