Lebanon, Israel will hold talks in Rome on the establishment of a strategic partnership | Israel attacks Lebanon News

Beirut hopes to move forward with Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon.

Lebanon and Israel have resumed talks in Rome, with Beirut hoping to make progress on Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon under a US-brokered deal, although hopes for quick progress remain low.

Officials from the two countries began two days of meetings at the US embassy in the Italian capital on Tuesday to discuss how to use the agreement to end the conflict in Lebanon, Lebanese officials told Reuters.

One of the officials said that taking the talks to Rome will make it easier for the representatives of the two countries to negotiate with their governments to guide them during the negotiations.

The Lebanese President said that President Joseph Aoun told the Lebanese delegation to ask that the Israeli army withdraw from the two areas selected in the south of Lebanon before starting negotiations with the Israeli delegation at the meeting.

On Monday, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said that Italy is committed to holding talks to continue the process of ending the conflict in Lebanon.

“We are also very happy that Rome can be the venue for these meetings. In this way, our capital becomes the capital of peace,” said Tajani at the European Union meeting in Brussels on Monday.

These talks come after a meeting in Washington, DC on June 26 made an agreement that sought to end Israel’s war in Lebanon, the withdrawal of military equipment – which is evident in Hezbollah – the deployment of Lebanese troops to the south and the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces.

But Israel’s deadly threats continue, and Hezbollah has rejected the deal and attempted to disarm it. Meanwhile, Israel has said its troops will remain in southern Lebanon as long as Hezbollah remains armed.

Since Hezbollah and Israel returned to hostilities on March 2 amid a major regional conflict, US-led talks have progressed despite strong opposition from the Iran-aligned bloc.

In the agreement between the US and Iran in mid-June, the two countries agreed that fighting would end on all sides, including Israel’s war on Lebanon. But Israel sees its conflict with Hezbollah as a matter of national security and continues to engage in violence.

The Israeli army is occupying what it describes as a “safe zone” about 10 km (6 miles) into Lebanon along the entire length of the Israeli border. Israeli officials say the region is necessary to protect northern Israel from threats by Hezbollah.

In a statement published by his office on Monday, Aoun said he hoped the Rome meeting would provide “visible and practical ways” to implement the agreement and that he would see Israel begin withdrawing its army so that the Lebanese army could be sent south.

One of the Lebanese officials said that the delegation of the country at the talks on Tuesday wants the Israeli army to leave gradually and in sequence, referring to the “airports” from which Hezbollah will take weapons, the Israeli army will leave and the Lebanese army will be sent region by region to the south of Lebanon.

The June 26 agreement stated that two areas were identified as starting points. A US official said last week that the US Central Command (CENTCOM) is cooperating with Lebanon and Israel to establish airspace. A US military delegation was in Lebanon over the weekend to discuss the plan in detail with the Lebanese army, sources told Reuters.

The Israeli army has forced Lebanese people to leave their homes and bombed entire villages. It is said to be destroying infrastructure, including underground tunnels, used by Hezbollah.

More than 4,000 Lebanese have been killed and more than a million displaced by Israel’s war in Lebanon since March, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.

At least 32 Israeli soldiers and four Israeli civilians have been killed by Hezbollah, most of them in southern Lebanon, since Israel began its offensive.