Israel revealed, on Tuesday, that the next round of talks with Lebanon will be held next week in the Italian capital, Rome, in a new stop on the path that began after reaching an American-sponsored framework agreement between the two sides.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said, during a press conference with his German counterpart Johann Vadifhol in Jerusalem, that Israel, Lebanon and the United States reached, less than two weeks ago, what he described as a “historic framework agreement,” announcing that the talks will continue next week in Rome.
Sa’ar’s announcement comes at a time when southern Lebanon is still living under the weight of repeated Israeli violations, despite the decline in the pace of confrontations after the ceasefire, amid Israel’s continued implementation of strikes that it says target military structures of Hezbollah and the movements of its members, while both sides exchange accusations of violating the truce.
According to circulating data, the framework agreement concluded on June 26 under the auspices of the United States paved the way for a negotiating path aimed at stopping the war, provided that it included steps related to a gradual Israeli withdrawal from the lands it had penetrated into southern Lebanon, and the deployment of the Lebanese army in specific areas, in addition to addressing the file of Hezbollah’s weapons.
However, this path is still surrounded by major political and security problems, in light of Lebanon’s insistence on stopping Israeli attacks and respecting Lebanese sovereignty, in exchange for Israel linking any complete withdrawal from the south to field measures related to the deployment of the Lebanese army and the dismantling of Hezbollah’s military structures in the border areas.
Media reports indicate that there is a discrepancy regarding the location of the next round, as the Israeli side announced that it will be held in Rome, while Lebanese diplomatic sources spoke of its adherence to holding it in Washington, which reflects the sensitivity of the negotiating path and the form of participation in it, in addition to the political messages related to the location and the American role.
The Rome Round, if held, will gain special importance because it comes after a wave of official Lebanese positions that stressed that any negotiation in the name of Lebanon must be exclusively in the hands of the state, and in light of repeated calls for the international community to pressure Israel to respect the ceasefire and stop targeting civilians.
This round will also constitute a practical test of the extent to which the “Framework Agreement” can be implemented, especially since the provisions related to the withdrawal, the deployment of the Lebanese army, and the return of residents to the southern villages remain the most sensitive, given their direct connection to the security of the south and the ability of the Lebanese state to impose its full presence.
In the background, this path cannot be separated from the humanitarian reality in the south, where the war caused widespread displacement and great damage to the border villages, while a large portion of the displaced returned after the ceasefire, but their return remains linked to maintaining calm, stopping the strikes, and ensuring that the villages do not turn into an arena of open confrontation again.
Thus, the Lebanon-Israel talks are entering a new stage of complexity, between an Israeli announcement of a round in Rome, Lebanese anticipation of a path that guarantees withdrawal and the cessation of violations, and American and international pressure to transform the framework agreement from a political text into applicable field measures.
