Dubai – Al Bayan and agencies
The framework agreement signed between Lebanon and Israel under American auspices is entering a new phase, as the focus shifts from cementing political understandings to the mechanisms for implementing them on the ground. As the parties prepare for a new round of negotiations in Rome, Beirut is making its participation conditional on Israel beginning its withdrawal from the two pilot areas stipulated in the agreement.
This comes alongside a statement by the US president expressing his belief that Israel will withdraw its forces from southern Lebanon, despite statements by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggesting otherwise, at a time when Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon continue — reflecting the persistent overlap between the negotiating track and the situation on the ground.
US President Donald Trump said yesterday that he believes Israel will withdraw its forces from southern Lebanon because it wants to take that step. Speaking to journalists in Ankara, he said he had discussed the withdrawal with Netanyahu. Trump said: "Yes, I think they will do it. And I think they want to do it. So we have an agreement with Israel and Lebanon. Yes, they will withdraw. I think things will go well."
Meanwhile, Agence France-Presse quoted a diplomatic source close to the negotiations, who requested anonymity, as saying that Lebanon is conditioning its participation in the round of talks scheduled in Rome on 15 and 16 July on Israel withdrawing from two pilot areas in the south of the country. The talks were announced by both Italy and Israel, while Beirut has yet to declare its official position on participation.
The source clarified that this condition is based on the framework agreement signed in Washington in late June, following five rounds of US-brokered negotiations. The agreement stipulated the disarmament of the Hezbollah militia, a gradual Israeli withdrawal from areas that Israeli forces had advanced into in southern Lebanon, and the deployment of the Lebanese army beginning in two areas described as "pilot" zones.
In the same context, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, during a meeting at the Baabda Palace, stressed the necessity of consolidating the ceasefire and accelerating the start of the Israeli withdrawal from the pilot areas, according to a statement issued by the Lebanese presidency.
The statement added that the two sides also discussed the government's preparations to reopen roads, clear rubble, and rehabilitate infrastructure, to allow residents to return to affected areas that can currently be accessed and those from which Israeli forces will withdraw.
This position comes at a time when Israeli forces have yet to withdraw from any area they control in southern Lebanon, while Israeli military operations continue in several parts of the south.
Alongside the negotiating track, President Aoun confirmed that the negotiations enjoy the support of the majority of Lebanese, according to a presidential statement.
Aoun said he chose negotiations because "I cannot stand by as a spectator while my country is being led to the abyss in the service of another country's interests," adding that this path aims to halt Israeli military operations, limit losses in lives and villages, and ultimately end the occupation.
The Lebanese president also expressed his expectation that his upcoming visit to the United States and his meeting with President Donald Trump would yield positive results for Lebanon, describing the visit as reflecting, in his words, an unprecedented American interest in Lebanon and support for a path toward a permanent resolution of the conflict and the achievement of stability in the region.
In this context, Reuters quoted a White House official as saying that the United States has formally invited the Lebanese president to visit Washington on 21 July, following the signing of the framework agreement between Lebanon and Israel last month, which came after several days of US-mediated talks.
On the ground, the Israeli army announced the killing of a member it said belonged to the Hezbollah militia, after he opened fire on Israeli forces in the Bint Jbeil area of southern Lebanon.
The army said in a statement that its forces responded immediately to the source of fire, confirmed that none of its soldiers were injured, and stressed that it would continue to act against what it described as any threat targeting its forces.
In turn, the Lebanese National News Agency reported that Israeli warplanes struck the Harj Ali al-Taher area on the outskirts of the town of Nabatieh al-Fawqa, following artillery shelling of the area. Three further strikes also targeted militia positions in the area between the towns of Beit Yahoun, Kounine, and Burj Rahal in southern Lebanon.