Israel-Lebanon talks to resume in September, US says

A US State Department official said Tuesday that the United States will sponsor a new round of talks between Israel and Lebanon in Rome in early September.

“The political track will reconvene in Rome in early September, and conversations will continue in Beirut, Jerusalem, and Washington in the interim,” the official said on condition of anonymity.

The United States has been sponsoring talks aimed at ending hostilities between Israel and Lebanon. Beirut is seeking a phased Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon.

Israel and Lebanon agreed in June to a framework deal involving 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 test areas known as “pilot zones.”

The US official said the framework was being implemented, the first zones were live, and working groups had aligned their language, maps and procedures. The official said Lebanon would present detailed roadmaps for securing new areas at the next technical round as implementation continues in current zones.

Talks last week in Rome were the seventh round since Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the wider Middle East war in March with rocket fire at Israel in support of Iran. Lebanon says Israeli airstrikes and a ground invasion have killed more than 4,300 people.

Hezbollah has repeatedly rejected direct talks between Israel and Lebanon and refuses to surrender its weapons. Violence in Lebanon has decreased since the June Lebanon-Israel deal and a preliminary US-Iran agreement on the Middle East war, but Lebanon has continued to report intermittent Israeli strikes, shelling, detonations and demolitions in southern villages.