ZAWTAR AL-GHARBIYEH, Lebanon: A US-brokered plan for Israel to withdraw gradually from occupied areas of southern Lebanon in exchange for the disarmament of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia is off to a painfully slow start.
To the US, the “pilot zone program” is the centerpiece of a June 26 framework deal intended to end the war between Israel and Hezbollah, and establish peaceful ties between Israel and Lebanon.
But Hezbollah itself still refuses to give up its weapons. And on the ground, the rollout of the first zone in the south Lebanese village of Zawtar Al-Gharbiyeh last week offered a glimpse of a strained and complex process that will be no easier to repeat elsewhere.
A senior Lebanese military official, who requested anonymity in order to speak freely, said it had taken weeks of US-brokered negotiations with Israel and days of military operations to establish the first zone in a single village.
The agreement links Israel’s progressive withdrawal to the “verified disarmament” of Hezbollah — which is not a party to the deal, has refused to give up its arsenal, and has raised the prospect of internal strife if the state tries to disarm it by force.
