A Lebanese official told AFP over the weekend that his country would take part in the planned talks, after Beirut had previously conditioned participation on Israel withdrawing from the areas designated for the pilot program.<\/p>\n
Ahead of the new round, a senior Israeli official told Channel 12 on Monday that the sides will discuss \u2014 and likely disagree over \u2014 the pace of the pilot program.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Lebanon, they are trying to assert as much control as possible over the process, to enable the expansion of the pilot program in the future,\u201d the official told the network. \u201cAs far as we\u2019re concerned, as long as the first pilot doesn\u2019t prove itself, there will be no further withdrawals.\u201d<\/p>\n
The official added that there was a disagreement over the metrics by which to determine whether the Lebanese military had completed its mission.<\/p>\n
\t US-led diplomacy has emerged since Hezbollah and Israel returned to war on March 2 amid the wider regional conflict. It has moved forward despite strong objections from the Iran-backed terror group.<\/p>\n Iran demanded an end to the war in Lebanon as part of its interim deal with Washington signed last month, but that agreement has been shaken over the last week by renewed US-Iranian hostilities in the Gulf.<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s \u200bmilitary is holding what it describes as a \u201csecurity zone\u201d about 10 kilometrs (six miles) into Lebanon along the entire length of the Israeli border. Israeli officials say the zone \u200cis \u2060necessary to protect northern Israeli communities from attacks launched by Hezbollah.<\/p>\n A meeting in Washington on June 26 produced an agreement that called for an end to the Lebanon conflict, the disarmament of armed groups, as well as the deployment of Lebanese troops to the south and the progressive withdrawal of Israeli forces.<\/p>\n But deadly Israeli strikes have continued and Hezbollah has rejected the agreement as well as efforts to disarm it. Israel, meanwhile, has said its troops would remain in southern Lebanon as long as Hezbollah remains in possession of its weapons.<\/p>\n Lebanese and Israeli officials are meeting at the US embassy in Rome on Tuesday and Wednesday to set out how to implement the framework deal, Lebanese officials told Reuters. One of the officials said moving the talks to Rome would make it easier for both countries\u2019 delegations to consult their governments for guidance as they negotiate.<\/p>\n Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Monday that Italy had offered to host the talks to continue work toward a genuine ceasefire in Lebanon.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are also very pleased that Rome can serve as the venue for these meetings. In this way, our capital becomes a capital of peace,\u201d Tajani said ahead of a European Union meeting in Brussels on Monday.<\/p>\n The Lebanese presidency announced on Monday that its delegation to Rome had been instructed \u201cto demand the immediate start of Israeli forces\u2019 withdrawal from the two pilot zones before any further discussion.\u201d<\/p>\n In comments published by his office, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said he hoped the Rome meeting would yield \u201ctangible and practical steps on the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n \t One of the Lebanese officials said the country\u2019s delegation to Tuesday\u2019s talks would seek the gradual and sequential withdrawal of Israeli troops \u201cone zone after another.\u201d<\/p>\n The June 26 agreement said two zones had been identified as a starting point. A US official said last week that the US military\u2019s Central Command (CENTCOM) was coordinating with both Lebanon and Israel to launch the pilot zones.<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s military has forced the local Lebanese population from their homes and carried out controlled explosions, demolishing entire villages. It says it is destroying vast infrastructure, including underground tunnels, used by Hezbollah.<\/p>\n Tehran had demanded the ceasefire in Lebanon in order to conclude a memorandum of understanding with Washington on June 17.<\/p>\n But the region has seen a renewed escalation in recent days, with the US carrying out a third consecutive night of strikes against Iran ahead of the planned reimposition on Tuesday of its naval blockade of Iranian ports, and Tehran striking multiple countries in the region.<\/p>\n Analyst Orna Mizrahi, of the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) in Tel Aviv, told AFP that Iran wants to establish a link between negotiations over the US-Iran war and Lebanon, \u201cbut we have the wish to disconnect it.\u201d<\/p>\n \t She added that Tehran\u2019s priorities today are the Strait of Hormuz and the nuclear file.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Iranians are using Lebanon as an excuse. They will always use it as an excuse.\u201d<\/p>\n Karim Bitar, a lecturer at Sciences Po Paris, told AFP that the risk of major fighting returning to Lebanon as a result of the regional escalation \u201cis, of course, not negligible.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut I think that Iran today will think twice before asking Hezbollah to launch new strikes against Israel,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Tehran \u201cwants to maintain Hezbollah as a long-term deterrent tool and does not want to use it immediately to open a new front,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t The war with Iran has been draining for all of us in Israel. But when I heard about a high casualty incident \u2013 ballistic missile impacts in Arad and Dimona that left nearly 200 people wounded \u2013 I drank a cup of coffee, packed a bag, and headed south.<\/p>\n There, I spoke with Shilgit, the head of an after-school program for underprivileged youth. Standing outside her destroyed center, Shilgit said it was a miracle that no children were hurt and spoke about the community coming together in the hours since.<\/p>\n As a Times of Israel reporter, I\u2019m committed to telling stories of resilience like Shilgit\u2019s. But my colleagues and I can’t do this alone. If you value work like this,<\/strong> please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community.<\/strong> Your financial support is essential to keep real human reporting like this going.<\/p>\n \u2014 Stav Levaton, military reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n \t\t\t
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\n\t\tThis photograph taken from the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh shows smoke as it rises from the site of an Israeli-controlled explosion in the village of Kfar Tibnit, with the Beaufort citadel seen in the distance, on July 13, 2026 (Abbas FAKIH\/AFP)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/AFP__20260709__B9QQ7WF__v1__HighRes__LebanonIsraelUsIranWar-1-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tThis handout picture released by the Lebanese Presidency\u2019s press office shows Lebanon\u2019s President Joseph Aoun (L) receiving US Ambassador to Lebanon Michael Issa at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, east of Beirut, on July 9, 2026 (Lebanese Presidency\/AFP)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/DSC07471-Enhanced-NR-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tAn IDF soldier is seen in a Hezbollah tunnel near the Beaufort Castle in southern Lebanon, July 7, 2026. (Emanuel Fabian\/Times of Israel)<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\tWe can’t do this work alone.\t\t\t<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Untitled-design-4-200x200.jpg\" "\\"\\"\/")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\tYes, I’ll join\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/334x334-200x200.png\" "\\"\\"\/")
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