Lebanon and Israel move toward implementing withdrawal agreement, US officials say

BEIRUT -- After two days of U.S.-mediated talks in Rome, Lebanon and Israel took steps toward implementing “pilot zones” in southern Lebanon where Israeli forces would withdraw and turn over control to the Lebanese army, the U.S. State Department said Wednesday.

The State Department said in a statement that the talks were “productive” and the parties “agreed on the structure and guidelines for the pilot zone process, to be finalized and implemented in the coming days.”

There was no immediate statement from Lebanon or Israel on the outcome of the negotiations.

Lebanon and Israel announced a “framework agreement” on June 26 laying out a plan for Israeli forces to withdraw from the large swathes of southern Lebanon they are occupying, in exchange for disarmament of the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group.

The deal was supposed to begin with two “pilot zones” where the Israeli military is to turn over control to the Lebanese army, which would clear the areas of any Hezbollah presence.

However, implementation on the ground had stalled ahead of this week’s talks in Rome.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, who is slated to visit Washington on July 21, said in a statement ahead of the Rome talks that instructions had been given to the Lebanese delegation “to demand the immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces from the two pilot zones before any further discussions.”

Wednesday's statement did not specify where the pilot zones would be, but Lebanese and Israeli officials previously said they would include the towns of Froun, Ghandouriyeh and Zawtar.

The designated zones generated some controversy in Lebanon, because Israeli troops were not present in most of the selected area to begin with, raising questions about how a withdrawal could take place. The Lebanese army had pushed for pilot zones that were larger and included more area occupied by Israeli forces.

The latest Israel-Hezbollah war began when Hezbollah fired missiles across the border on March 2, two days after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran.

Hezbollah and Iran had sought to link the end of the war in Lebanon to the outcome of broader U.S.-Iran talks. The Lebanese government, trying to minimize Iran’s influence, aimed to keep the two tracks separate and negotiate a ceasefire directly with Israel.

The June 26 Lebanon-Israel deal also envisions steps toward an eventual peace agreement between the two countries — which technically remain in a state of war nearly 80 years after Israel’s establishment.

The State Department said that following implementation of the pilot zones, “We will move to expanded technical talks ... with the aim of reaching a comprehensive agreement between Israel and Lebanon.”

Hezbollah has been vehemently opposed to the direct Lebanon-Israel talks and has said it will not abide by the agreement and has no plans to disarm. Israeli officials, meanwhile, have said publicly that they plan an extended occupation of southern Lebanon.

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Associated Press writer Farnoush Amiri in New York contributed to this report.