Lebanon is preparing for a sixth round of direct negotiations with Israel, which will be hosted by the Italian capital, Rome, on July 14 and 15. Lebanon will be represented by its ambassador to Washington, Nada Moawad, while Israel will be represented by its ambassador to Washington, Yechiel Leiter.

According to Annahar, the preparations carried out in Beirut ahead of the launch of this phase will proceed with strong momentum, with the aim of establishing an integrated framework combining the practical field implementation of the framework agreement on the one hand, and the start of forming the technical and political committees stemming from this agreement during the Rome round on the other.

According to Annahar’s information, and contrary to the skeptical atmosphere surrounding the current developments ahead of the upcoming critical days, positive indications have emerged in recent hours regarding military field coordination led by the American side. This development strengthens hopes for the success of the Rome round as well.

Israeli deployments on the border with Lebanon (AFP).

In an interview with the American network CBS, Leiter stated: “Israel, the US Central Command (CENTCOM), and the Lebanese Army are working to create the conditions for activating two pilot zones in southern Lebanon, from which Israeli army forces are planned to withdraw.

Leiter stressed that the continuation of this “step is conditional on the Lebanese Army assuming full responsibility for the area,” emphasizing that “if Hezbollah remains in these areas, the Israeli army will not withdraw from them.”

US military delegation in Lebanon

Meanwhile, the meetings held by the US military delegation in Yarze continue following a series of shuttle meetings with Israeli military officials, which focused on the implementation steps of the framework agreement formula, the launch of the pilot zones in the south, and the consolidation of the ceasefire.

Lebanese Army Commander General Rodolph Haykal briefed President Joseph Aoun on the details of what took place during the talks, amid concerns expressed by the president to visitors that renewed US Iranian tensions could once again spill over into Lebanon, especially since Hezbollah’s decision on this issue is ultimately an Iranian decision.”

Aoun is working to prevent the conflict from erupting again, hoping to give new momentum to the framework agreement following his meeting with the US president on July 21 of this month.