Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Tuesday that ongoing negotiations with Lebanon in Rome could help advance the implementation of an agreement covering two “pilot zones” in southern Lebanon from which Israeli forces may withdraw.
Under a framework agreement reached in late June, Israel is expected to gradually pull back its troops from parts of southern Lebanon as Lebanese forces move in and assume control. The two pilot zones would be handed over to the Lebanese army as part of the initial phase of the arrangement.
“We are ready to move forward implementing these two pilot zones,” Saar told journalists in Jerusalem. “I hope and tend to believe that this round of discussions in Rome will promote it.”
The issue has also featured in recent direct and indirect talks between Iran and the US, with Tehran making an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon one of its key demands.
Israel has maintained that it will not withdraw forces from areas of southern Lebanon currently under its control until Hezbollah is disarmed. The Iran-backed group, however, has repeatedly rejected calls to surrender its weapons.
Israeli troops currently control a broad stretch of southern Lebanon extending at least six miles from Israel’s northern border.
