Lebanon made the demands after the seventh round of direct talks with Israel in Rome, saying it would stay away until progress was achieved on all three issues
News Desk
ROME: Lebanon has set three conditions for returning to direct negotiations with Israel, saying it will not return to the negotiating table until there is clear progress on the key issues.
Sources close to the Lebanese delegation said Beirut was demanding a complete ceasefire across Lebanese territory, the establishment of a new pilot zone covering Bint Jbeil and Khiam, and an end to the demolition of homes, residential areas, orchards and farmland by Israeli forces in southern Lebanon.
The demands were made after the seventh round of direct Lebanon-Israel talks in Rome. Lebanon has said it will remain away from the talks until progress is made on all three issues.
The latest developments come after Israeli forces entered the western town of Zawtar on Saturday and built an earthen barrier. The area had been handed over to the Lebanese army under a framework agreement reached between Lebanon and Israel in June.
The agreement, signed on 26 June after five rounds of US-backed negotiations, included provisions for disarming Hezbollah, the phased withdrawal of Israeli forces from occupied areas of southern Lebanon and the deployment of the Lebanese army in designated pilot zones.
Zawtar was among the areas covered by the agreement, with Lebanese forces taking up positions there on 21 July. Under the framework, the Lebanese army is expected to work towards disarming Hezbollah and preventing the military presence of any armed group other than state forces.
The seventh round of direct talks ended in Rome on 6 August. A source at the Lebanese presidential palace said Israel had rejected Beirut’s demand for a new area to be identified for an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon.
Israel has argued that it must first verify full Lebanese army control over the two areas where its forces have already been deployed. Hezbollah, meanwhile, has rejected calls for direct negotiations with Israel and has also refused demands to surrender its weapons.
The conflict escalated after Hezbollah fired rockets towards Israel on 1 March in response to the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, during US and Israeli attacks on Iran, according to the report. Israel subsequently launched extensive airstrikes and ground operations in southern Lebanon.
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