Lebanon, Israel to hold next talks in Italy on Aug 4, Lebanese official says

BEIRUT - Lebanon and Israel are scheduled to hold their next round of US-brokered talks on Aug 4 in Italy, a Lebanese official told Reuters on July 22, as the two countries begin implementing a plan for Israeli withdrawals and Lebanese army deployments in southern Lebanon.

The two longtime foes have held more than three months of face-to-face talks, billed as a way to put a permanent end to hostilities since a new war erupted on March 2 between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, triggered by the wider regional conflict.

The ambassador-level direct meetings are unusual for countries that remain formally at war and have had no normal diplomatic relations through decades of invasion, military occupation and cross-border conflict.

Five meetings hosted by the United States produced a framework deal in late June which foresees the disarmament of Hezbollah, the progressive withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon and the deployment of Lebanese troops.

The ambassador-level talks have since moved to the Italian capital so delegations could discuss the technical details and guidelines of the pilot zones – the term for the geographical areas where that phased process would be implemented.

The first Israeli withdrawal under the pilot zone programme took place this week.

Israeli forces pulled out of the southern Lebanese town of Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh and the Lebanese army began deploying troops there, but asked residents to delay their return until the town was cleared of unexploded ordnance.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam visited Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh on July 22 and planted a Lebanese flag there, saying the state would work to reopen roads, clear rubble and restore public services so that residents could return.

Salam said Israel’s withdrawal was a significant first step but that Lebanon wanted a full Israeli withdrawal from all Lebanese territory.

Israel continues to occupy what it describes as a buffer zone about 10km inside Lebanon along the length of the border, where Israeli troops have ordered the local populations to leave and razed villages.

Israeli officials say the zone is necessary to protect northern Israeli communities from attacks by Hezbollah.

Despite a ceasefire that came into force in June, controlled demolitions have continued, Lebanese security sources said.

Tens of thousands of Lebanese people remain displaced, unable to return home because their villages remain occupied by Israeli troops or have been destroyed.

Israeli officials have said they will remain in southern Lebanon as long as Hezbollah remains armed.

The group has rejected the Lebanese government’s direct talks with Israel and has refused to disarm in full.

During his first official trip to Washington, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said that Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon could remove “the root cause that Hezbollah has long cited as its justification”.

Only then could Hezbollah be disarmed, Aoun told guests at a reception at the Lebanese embassy in Washington, according to comments shared by his office. REUTERS