Washington/Rome, Aug 6 (dpa/GNA) – The US State Department said on Thursday that both sides, have made progress in negotiations between Lebanon and Israel.
Talks in Rome at a technical and expert level have been productive, a State Department spokesman said, adding that the parties are “now significantly closer” to agreeing on what needs to be done to continue and expand the so-called pilot zones.
Israel has stationed troops in southern Lebanon and is taking action there against the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia. In earlier rounds of talks, the two neighbouring countries had agreed that in the pilot zones, the Lebanese Armed Forces which are not a party to the conflict, would take control and disarm the militia, while the Israeli army would gradually withdraw from the area.
Last month, the first pilot zones were established in the three southern Lebanese towns of Frun, Srifa and Sautar al-Gharbija. Representatives from Lebanon and Israel met in the Italian capital from Tuesday to Thursday to discuss the further implementation of their security agreement.
The agreement provides for both the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon and the disarmament of Hezbollah by the Lebanese army. The talks in Rome were intended to focus on the “full implementation of the framework agreement,” which was brokered by the United States.
Talks between Lebanon and Israel have been taking place since mid-April in the first direct political negotiations in decades. Officially, the two countries remain at war and do not maintain diplomatic relations with one another. The aim is to consolidate the ceasefire in the conflict between Israel and the pro-Iranian Hezbollah militia, which has long operated in Lebanon as a state within a state.
The Lebanese government itself is not a party to the conflict. The US is mediating the talks, in which Hezbollah is not involved.
GNA