BEIRUT: Lebanon and Israel are holding new negotiations under US auspices in Rome on Tuesday, against the backdrop of a regional escalation between Washington and Tehran. The two countries, officially at war for decades, reached a framework agreement on June 26, after five rounds of negotiations in Washington, aimed at ending the war between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah and paving the way for peace. But Hezbollah rejects the agreement, which calls for the group’s disarmament and whose implementation is set to begin with Israeli withdrawal from two “pilot zones” in southern Lebanon.

The decision was made after Israel announced its intentions to start withdrawing its troops

BEIRUT: Lebanese negotiators are set to meet their Israeli counterparts in Rome on Tuesday for a sixth round of direct, US-brokered talks, with the session scheduled to run over…

The last thing Beirut wants is replacing one regional-power influence with another