Italy announced today (Wednesday) that it will host another round of talks between Israel and Lebanon next month, after hosting the previous round of talks last week in Rome. Even after the completion of the previous round, and the signing of the agreement between the countries at the end of June, gaps still remain that are expected to be raised at the next meeting.
Meanwhile, the talks between the countries also recorded progress on the ground when the IDF and the Lebanese Army began the pilot implementation in southern Lebanon this week. Our forces began withdrawing from two selected areas in the security zone in southern Lebanon, into which Lebanese Army forces entered – to prevent Hezbollah from retaking the area.
After the pilot is completed, our forces are supposed to begin withdrawing from the rest of the security zone. But while Lebanon is trying to speed up the process, the head of the Israeli delegation to the talks, Israeli Ambassador to Washington Yechiel Leiter, has made it clear several times that the IDF will withdraw from the areas as soon as Hezbollah is disarmed.
To disarm the terrorist organization, the Lebanese army will have to do what it has been struggling to do for a year and a half. Therefore, this may be where the main dispute will be – whether Israel will agree to the IDF’s withdrawal even if Hezbollah possesses weapons, or whether the Lebanese army will be the one that will be forced to confront the terrorist organization more forcefully.