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Israel refuses to withdraw from more south Lebanon areas at talks: source<\/p>\nIsrael refused in talks on Thursday to withdraw from more areas of south Lebanon unless the Lebanese army had full control of an initial two “pilot zones”, a Lebanese presidential source told AFP.<\/p>\n
Israel refuses to withdraw from more south Lebanon areas at talks: source<\/p>\n
The seventh round of negotiations between Lebanon and Israel was held in Rome under US auspices aimed at ending hostilities between Israel and militant group Hezbollah that have been a violent second front of the Middle East war.<\/p>\n
The Lebanese source told AFP, on condition of anonymity, that the talks had “not yielded definitive results regarding the pilot zones”.<\/p>\n
While the outlook from Beirut was dim, a US State Department spokesperson told AFP that the talks were “productive”.<\/p>\n
In June, Israel and Lebanon agreed a framework deal that involves the disarmament of Hezbollah, a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from south Lebanon and the deployment of the Lebanese army to the region, starting in two “pilot zones”.<\/p>\n
The Lebanese army began deploying on July 21 to a southern village whose outskirts were controlled by the Israeli army and which was one of the first two “pilot zones”. It has reinforced its presence in the second zone.<\/p>\n
“Lebanon is keen to move on to new areas, whereas the Israeli side insists on verifying the first two zones before proceeding to the next stage,” the Lebanese source added.<\/p>\n
The US official said “the two sides are a lot closer on what needs to be done to advance and expand the pilot zone process”.<\/p>\n
The Lebanese source said agreement was reached on a “shortlist” of countries that might oversee the implementation.<\/p>\n
The pilot zone plan is the first test of the framework agreement.<\/p>\n
But Hezbollah has repeatedly rejected the direct talks and refuses to surrender its weapons.<\/p>\n
Alongside the talks, the Israeli army carried out strikes in the south on Thursday, calling it retaliation for the deaths of two soldiers on Wednesday in an explosion.<\/p>\n
Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war in March with rocket fire at Israel in support of its backer Iran.<\/p>\n
Israel responded with heavy air strikes and a ground invasion that Lebanon says have killed more than 4,300 people.<\/p>\n
Since the fighting in Lebanon first erupted, Israel’s military has lost 40 soldiers and one civilian contractor.<\/p>\n
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