The Lebanese army has begun to seize the ‘airport’ in the south | Israel attacks Lebanon News

Three cities will test the establishment of a tripartite alliance between Israel, Lebanon and the US.

The Lebanese army is to monitor security in three “pilot” villages in southern Lebanon, according to the United States.

The villages of Froun, Srifa and Zawtar al-Gharbiya were named by the US State Department on Monday as the first places that will try to implement the US-led coalition.

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Under the plan, Israeli troops are expected to gradually withdraw from areas occupied in southern Lebanon. The Lebanese army has also taken over security arrangements and is overseeing the disarmament of Hezbollah.

“This event is a direct result of last week’s talks between Israel and Lebanon in Rome,” the State Department said. It added that the US would “continue to work closely with both parties to implement the Framework to its full potential”.

Lebanon, Israel and the US agreed with schedule on June 26after six rounds of face-to-face interviews. However, Israel continues to protest in Lebanon while Hezbollah fires rockets into northern Israel.

The Iran-backed Hezbollah group has rejected the deal, demanding that Israel, which has US support, withdraw from Lebanon without pretext.

The agreement will see the Lebanese Armed Forces take over the security of areas that Israel has withdrawn from, and ensure that they are disarmed of Hezbollah’s weapons and equipment.

Questions on time

Despite the US statement, questions about the timing of the withdrawal of Israeli forces continued on Monday.

A security expert told Al Jazeera that the Lebanese army did not deploy to Zawtar al-Gharbiya because the Israeli army did not leave the outskirts of the town.

The mayor of Froun told Al Jazeera: “There has been nothing new” in the town. “The situation has not changed, and talking is just talking,” he added.

The mayor of Srifa said he had not been informed about the airspace, saying “nothing has changed; today is the same as yesterday and the Lebanese army has been here throughout the war”.

The plan does not provide for a time frame for Israel to withdraw from the occupied territories, which make up one-fifth of Lebanon’s territory.

Israeli officials have said they will remain 10km (6 miles) inside Lebanon, in what they call a “security zone”, as long as Hezbollah has weapons.

The US newspaper Axios reported on Monday afternoon that Israeli forces would withdraw from the airspace on Tuesday.

The latest war began in March when Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel in response to the US-Israeli assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei at the start of their five-month war with Iran.

Since March, 4,328 Lebanese have been killed and over a million displaced, according to Lebanon’s Ministry of Health.

At least 32 Israeli soldiers and four Israeli civilians were killed during the attack, most of them in southern Lebanon.