WASHINGTON: The United States will sponsor a new round of talks between Israel and Lebanon in early September in Rome, a State Department official announced Tuesday.
“The political track will reconvene in Rome in early September, and conversations will continue in Beirut, Jerusalem, and Washington in the interim,” the official said on condition of anonymity. “We feel good about the trajectory.”
The United States has been sponsoring talks between Israel and Lebanon aimed at putting an end to hostilities between them, with Beirut seeking Israel’s phased withdrawal from the south.
In June, Israel and Lebanon agreed to a framework deal that involves the disarmament of Hezbollah, a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon’s south and the deployment of the Lebanese army to the region, starting in test areas known as “pilot zones.”
Talks last week in Rome were the seventh round since Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war in March with rocket fire at Israel in support of its backer Iran.
