Beirut, Lebanon – Informed sources revealed that a military meeting was held on Friday, bringing together delegations from Lebanon, Israel, and the United States, as part of discussions regarding security arrangements in southern Lebanon. The location of the meeting has not yet been announced. This comes amidst ongoing disagreement over the mechanism for overseeing the disarmament process in the targeted areas.
A tripartite meeting is expected
According to sources, the Lebanese-Israeli-American military meeting is a continuation of talks held in Rome, Italy.
It aims to discuss the implementation steps for withdrawing weapons from specific areas in southern Lebanon, within what is known as the “pilot zone.”
The sources did not specify the meeting’s location. Meanwhile, contacts continue between the parties involved to finalize security understandings.
Dispute over the verification committee
Sources indicated that Israel rejects the participation of both France and the United Nations in any committee tasked with verifying the implementation of the weapons withdrawal from the “pilot zone.”
It also insists that the committee include Israel and the United States, along with a third party that is neither France nor the United Nations.
Furthermore, the formation of the verification committee remains one of the most significant points of contention between the two sides,
given their differing positions on which entities will oversee the implementation of the on-the-ground commitments.
Identifying the areas of the first phase
Sources indicated that the first “pilot zone” agreed upon during the Rome meeting includes the town of Zawtar al-Sharqiya and parts of Zawtar al-Gharbiya. These are areas currently occupied by Israel.
They added that the second pilot zone includes the towns of Frun and al-Ghandouriya. Efforts are underway to include the towns of Qalawiya, Burj Qalawiya, and Sarifa in the same phase.
This comes as part of expanding the implementation of the security arrangements being negotiated between the two sides.
